Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook players mob Jordyn Finney (obscured, center) after he singles home the winning run in the Cranes’ 4-3 victory over Auburn Hills Avondale.
Right before Jordyn Finney came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded in a tie game, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook coach Andy Fairman called him aside to give him some advice.
“I’d been struggling at the plate the last couple of games and he just told me go up there and have fun,” Finney said, “because at the end of the day that’s what this game’s all about — having fun — so that’s what I did and that’s what happened.”
Finney was definitely having a lot of fun moments later, at the center of a wild celebration just beyond first base. His clean single through the infield drove home Ken Schumacher from third base, giving Cranbrook a 4-3 comeback win against Auburn Hills Avondale.
The Cranes (12-16) were solidly connecting with the ball all day and got a strong pitching performance from starter Max Musyj, who scattered three singles and struck out nine. But when Musyj left the mound after six innings, Avondale had a 3-2 lead.
Cranbrook rallied in its half of the seventh with three hits, a sacrifice bunt, an intentional walk, and a fielder’s choice with an error which brought pinch-runner John Angileri home with the tying run.
Musyj said it was the team’s only last-gasp win this spring.
Cranbrook’s Max Musyj allowed three hits and struck out nine in six innings.
“That was unreal; that was a great experience for all of us,” he said. “I just want to congratulate Jordyn Finney on that hit; that was massive. I don’t think we’ve had any (walk-off wins); I think we’ve had a couple walk-off losses, actually. It was great to get one for the boys.”
“That’s kind of the crazy thing about this game; it’s that anything can happen,” Finney said. “We just faced a lot of adversity and we overcame it. I think that had a lot to do with how we bond together as a team and how we trust each other. “
Avondale (20-6, ranked No. 9 in Division 2) wrapped up the Oakland Activities Association’s Blue Division title last week with a three-game sweep of Troy Athens but hadn’t played since, and head coach Tom Kurczewski said his team looked a little flat despite putting two runs on the board in the top of the first.
Avondale’s Dan Ozerities beats the throw home on a double-steal to give the Yellow Jackets a one-run lead in the sixth inning.
“I think it wasn’t much of an offensive game from either team,” he said. “I thought our pitcher did a good job and their pitcher was doing a good job. We manufactured a few runs on their errors but it just wasn’t our day. A couple of those balls in the seventh inning could have been outs, too, but once they had their chance to win, they took advantage.”
Cranbrook scored twice in the bottom of the second on four hits off starter Brad Kavka, but Kavka settled down and only allowed one more hit until Jack Murphy and Schmacher blooped singles to start off the seventh.
“He was throwing good, he was throwing straight, he was hitting a lot of his spots, keeping hitters off-balance with his curveball and his change-up,” Finney said of Kavka. “We just tried to put the ball in play, and when it happens, it happens.”
Kurczewski hopes his players can learn from the loss.
“We’ve got a lot of games left. We play two (Thursday) and two Friday, we’ve got a long way to go,” he said. “Maybe this will be the eye-opener.”
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