Manistee Saints heading to NABF World Series

MANISTEE — With player/manager Roddy MacNeil wheeling and dealing on the hill, and the defense making the plays, the Manistee Saints won their third straight National Amateur Baseball Federation Major Regional championship Saturday at Kliber Field.

After losing to the Tribe, 4-2, on Friday and being forced to win twice on Saturday to keep their streak in the NABF alive, the Saints parlayed MacNeil’s outstanding performance and a disciplined approach at the plate into a 4-1 win.

“I was having a heart attack in that last inning,” said MacNeil, who by then had called to the bullpen to finish the final three innings.

“You know how it goes. But it was just great ball. Everything that we needed to improve (from) yesterday to make sure we won both games today, we did.

“Better two-out hitting, better hitting with guys in scoring position. Still great at-bats. The guys were just battling and found a way to do it. Pitching was solid all day. Anytime you get late in the game there’s pressure, and there’s nerves,” he said. “I think we saw that a little bit with the strike efficiency in the seventh, eighth and ninth (innings). Great job by Marty (McDonald) and Jack Hitchens, coming in and getting outs.”

For the second game in a row, the Saints built a quick early lead on the Tribe. But instead of failing to score the rest of the way, the Saints scrapped for every hit and walk they could manage against a dangerous Midland team that had won 25 games coming in.

The Saints walked to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Three consecutive bases loaded walks to Lucas Weinert, Dom Palamara and JJ Dutmers accounted for two runs.

Aaron Bess, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, worked his way on base with a walk, scrambled over to second on a ground ball and trotted home on Palamara’s single to give the Saints a 4-1 lead.

MacNeil felt comfortable on the hill, although he hadn’t pitched nearly as frequently as in the past.

“It was like riding a bike,” MacNeil said. “This is what I knew I would have to do all year. I knew it was going to come down to me throwing in a big game at some point in time. It was great. Kept me under 100 pitches. It sets us up great going into next week. We have a lot of arms, a lot of starters. People are ready. We haven’t played four games in a weekend in a while. The guys are starting to dial in. We are getting hot, putting it together at the right time.

“I’m really excited about getting down to Battle Creek and the World Series.”

Bess (who had four hits, with a home run and three RBI for the two-day tournament) led the Saints at the plate against the Tribe with two hits and a couple of runs scored.

Also getting single hits for the Saints were Tommy Reid, Palamara and Dutmers with Palamara, Dutmers and Graves producing one RBI apiece.

MacNeil was nearly perfect, scattering four hits, giving up one run and striking out six.