ROCHESTER HILLS – Rochester made the big play in the eighth inning, then scored the game-winning run in the next, outlasting seventh-ranked Anchor Bay 1-0 in Thursday evening’s Division 1 regional semifinal at Stoney Creek.
Having finally outlasted Anchor Bay starting pitcher Ty Finkbeiner, who reached his pitch limit after getting the first out in the bottom of the ninth, Rochester got its breakthrough against reliever Sam Giambruno. He walked Sean Fox, and after a balk advanced Fox to second, the Tars elected to intentionally walk Daniel Gadlage, who had Rochester’s only extra-base hit of the game, a double to left-center field back in the fourth.
Jacob Scott was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. That’s when JT Sawdon factored back in.
Sawdon, who lasted eight frames of the duel, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out eight, drove a 2-2 offering from Giambruno to left field for an out, but it was enough for Fox to beat the throw to home and send the Falcons into jubilation.
Photo gallery of Anchor Bay vs. Rochester in D1 baseball regional semifinal action
"The approach was really just that my day was done pitching, my only job was to hit, and I had to deliver there," Sawdon said. "I was waiting for that pitch I could hit until two strikes, and then it was just anything I could hit out there. I just had to go for it, and luckily I got one in my spot and got the job done."
His 104th pitch was his last in the bottom of the eighth, and it came on a game-defining play.
Before that, Kolyn Martell singled to left for Anchor Bay, then he was forced out, but Mason Stryker was safe at first when Rochester was unable to turn a double play. An error later in the inning on a bunt by Connor Young put runners at the corners for the Tars.
With Sawdon's pitch-count limit nearly maxed out, Drew Schornak took Sawdon's final delivery with a full count for a ride into right field. It was caught by Scott, who rifled it home to Falcons catcher Wyatt Perkins, and he withstood the collision just before home plate with Stryker for an inning-ending double play that stood after deliberation by the umpiring crew.
"Jacob unleashed the cannon out there," Sawdon said. "I had a front-row seat. It was a great play."
On the importance of the chance, Anchor Bay head coach Jared Biesbrouck said, "Yeah, that was the one. We had a lot of opportunities, we just didn't get that one key hit."
Biesbrouck and the Tars got all they could ask of Finkbeiner. The junior, a University of Michigan commit, allowed just one hit other than the double by Gadlage -- a single by Scott in the third -- and struck out a dozen Falcons.
"Honestly, two of the better pitchers you're going to see in the state," Rochester head coach Eric Magiera said of the starters. "Both of those guys matched each other pitch-for-pitch all day long."
Ryan MacDonald relieved Sawdon for the ninth, allowing a two-out double into the corner in right to Finkbeiner, then a walk to Mason Golabek before a strikeout to work Rochester (24-15) out of a tight jam for the second inning in a row.
"Ryan's been great for us, our No. 2 in the rotation all year long," Magiera said. "Anytime we need a guy to get us two outs, three outs, whatever it might be, he gets the job done every single time, and we're lucky to have him."
Anchor Bay, who reached regionals after beating Romeo 4-3 in its district final, finishes the season with a record of 24-6.
"This is the best season in Anchor Bay history," Biesbrouck said. "Twenty wins, league title, district title ... I really did feel the boys had more left in the tank, it just wasn't our day. But I'm really proud of these guys."
The Falcons, who prevailed after a much longer 11-inning win over Utica Eisenhower in the district semifinals, get Flushing in the regional final in Grand Blanc on Saturday at 10 a.m.
"We're getting our money's worth in the playoffs right now," Magiera said. "We're battle-tested and have a team that's built for something like this. We don't feel uncomfortable when we get in the eighth or ninth inning. We know we have a good chance of being able to get the job done, and we're doing it. We're just as good as everybody else is, and we have a chance to be able to do something special on Saturday. Hopefully we can do it."
