Dillman’s Huge Day Not Enough in Series Loss to Sterling

STERLING, Kan. – Zach Dillman had a Saturday for the ages, blasting a trio of home runs and driving in a total of 11 runs over two games to help Avila out to early leads both times, but it was not enough, as the Sterling Warriors (18-22, 12-17 KCAC) rallied twice and ultimately won all three games against the Eagles (17-24, 13-16 KCAC) this weekend in Sterling.

Avila never led in the series opener on Friday but held big leads in both games on Saturday, thanks largely to Dillman's heroics. But the Warriors found a way to win all three times, sinking the Eagles to their eighth consecutive loss. If the KCAC Tournament started today, the Eagles would still be in the field – Avila is currently situated between McPherson and Evangel, two teams Avila has a head-to-head advantage over, in the lower part of the KCAC's top eight. So while these three losses this weekend aren't devastating, they will make the next two midweek contests against Southwestern and York all that much more important for an Avila squad that truly believes it's deserving of its first spot in the KCAC postseason.

Friday's series opener was a tight contest until Sterling struck for five runs in the seventh inning to put the game beyond reach. But in the early innings, every time the Warriors struck, the Eagles struck back. Sterling scored first in the second inning before Avila answered with an RBI single from Bryce Culp in the third. Sterling then scored two in the third that Avila countered in the fourth when Paxton Andrade doubled in Tyler King and scored on a base hit from Robby Cable.

The Warriors kept the offense humming by scoring two more in the bottom of the fourth, and this time, the Eagles could not muster a response. King drove in a run with a hit in the seventh to get the Eagles within one, but Sterling then took the game over with five runs in the home half, anchored by a two-run hit from Andrew Dutro, to extend the lead, and Avila could not break back against Cipriano Rivera in the final two frames. Sterling prevailed 10-4 in the series opener.

The two teams returned for a pair of games on Saturday afternoon that were marked by even more of the heavy winds that are commonplace in KCAC baseball contests this time of year, and both squads took full advantage of the conditions to put up some big numbers with the bats. Both teams recorded double-digit hits in both games Saturday, and the Eagles were simply outslugged but only slightly: Sterling eked out two wins by one run each.

To make matters messier, Avila held big leads early in both games before Sterling managed to find a way back in the late stages. Zach Dillman began his massive Saturday showing by blasting a grand slam, helping chase Andrew Mason in the first inning. Dillman then struck again in the third inning, a two-run home run off bulk pitcher Ryan Speer, to put Avila on top 6-1. But Sterling didn't stay down for long. A three-run homer by Jared Almanza in the bottom of the third kickstarted the rally, and the Warriors eventually scored ten runs in a row to vault in front 11-6 after seven.

This time, it was Avila's turn to rally. Landon Vahle started it off with a two-run homer, and Rusten Traxler followed with a two-run single, cutting the Eagles' deficit down to one. Sterling then bled across two unearned runs against an otherwise solid Ryan Wingerd in the eighth to go back up by three, but the Eagles surged back once again, loading the bases in the top of the ninth against Tyler Duffey without the benefit of a hit. Duffey hit Vahle with a pitch to force in a run, and forcing Sterling to summon Rivera from the bullpen again. He promptly gave up a sac fly RBI to Gio Armas, but Rivera managed to lock it down and record the final two outs, stranding the tying run on third base in the form of Rhett Rogers, and Sterling held on, barely, to a 13-12 win.

For the second straight weekend, Avila went with the combination of Alex Walton and Logan Empson in the seven-inning game. For the second straight weekend, that duo gave the Eagles a chance to win a critical game, but for the second straight weekend, the contest went into extra innings, and that's where things got dicey.

After both Walton and David Lira settled in with two scoreless innings to start off game three, Dillman returned to do some more damage in the third inning, uncorking his second grand slam of the day to help put Avila up 5-0 early. In the fourth, Bryce Culp and Ricky Dober both delivered RBI doubles, staking the Eagles out to a 7-0 lead at what was supposed to be the halfway point of the contest.

But the Warriors proved they could play the longball game as well. Specifically, Luis Morales did his part to keep pace with Dillman by hitting two separate three-run shots, helping Sterling tie the game at seven apiece after five. Not to be outdone, Dillman stepped up and hit his fourth home run of the week, a solo shot, in the sixth, to put the Eagles back in front before Dustin Chartrand, Sterling's starting shortstop who had moved onto the mound at that point, singled home the tying run in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.

The Eagles could not score against Chartrand in the eighth. Not wanting to risk running Empson out for another inning, Avila went to Zach Zwicky, fresh off his strong outing against Tabor, in the home half of the inning, and the Warriors steadily loaded the bases and brought in the game-ending run off the bat of nine-hole hitter Austin Santiago. His second hit of the day lifted the Warriors to a 9-8 win in eight innings and a series sweep of the Eagles.

Andrade led the Eagles with six hits, including four doubles, on the weekend. Dillman finished the three-game set with four home runs, a 1.214 slugging percentage, and 11 RBI.

Up next, Avila baseball will play its first home games in a little while when the Eagles welcome Southwestern to The Z for a pair of games to conclude their midweek series this coming Tuesday, April 16. The doubleheader will begin at noon, and as always, you can watch all the action live and for free on the Avila Sports Network.