Aggressive Faith Lutheran gets past Arbor View

Many baseball coaches would have been tempted to run down the third-base line and physically take the bat out of their hitter’s hands with a 3-0 count and the bases loaded.

But Faith Lutheran coach Tony Girod didn’t put on the take sign, even though Arbor View starter Zach Quintana had walked two straight and 12 of his last 13 pitches had been balls.

Instead, Girod turned loose cleanup hitter Mike Kinkenon, and his senior catcher made the move pay off, lining a three-run double to center field to help the Crusaders (14-14, 10-4 Northwest League) to a 10-6 road win over Arbor View (14-12, 6-8) on Monday.

“We’re not going to win games and we’re not going to win league by taking pitches,” Girod said. “We’re going to have to drive runners in. Three RBIs on a 3-0 (count), that’s what he’s supposed to do.”

Kinkenon said the aggressive attitude has been there from all season.

“At the beginning of the year, (Girod) told us to play baseball and have fun,” Kinkenon said. “He gave me the green light right there 3-0, and if it was right there I was going to drive it, and I did.

“We’re free to swing 3-0, we can steal when we want, he just wants us to play and know what we can do. He doesn’t hold us back at all.”

Kinkenon’s shot highlighted a seven-run fifth that gave the Crusaders control. Faith Lutheran trailed 3-2 entering the inning but scored the tying run on a bases-loaded walk to Caleb Summerhays before Kinkenon’s go-ahead hit.

The Crusaders added RBI doubles by Tyler Trageton and David Edson, and an RBI single by Andrew Hudgins in the inning.

The win went a long way toward securing a playoff spot for Faith Lutheran. The Crusaders entered the week with a  chance to claim the league title or miss the playoffs entirely.

Now they clinch a postseason spot with a win or a Legacy loss. And the league’s top playoff seed is still within Faith Lutheran’s sights, as the Crusaders are a game back of first-place Cimarron. Faith Lutheran hosts Cimarron on Wednesday and closes out the regular season at Shadow Ridge on Friday.

“This was the first of three big games we have this week,” Kinkenon said. “We know we have a shot to win the whole thing, so we just want to come out and give it our best.”

Kinkenon went 2-for-2 with two runs, and Edson was 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI for the Crusaders. Blake Matthias gave up one earned run in 3 2/3 innings of relief to get the win.

Quintana was 3-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs for Arbor View, which was eliminated from postseason contention.