Coyotes’ loyalty to Harper doesn’t translate to victory

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- They tried everything. They wore eye black down the sides of their faces like him. His brother scrawled No. 34 in dirt behind the pitcher's mound. One teammate wore his jersey. Another hit a home run and, while crossing home plate, held up three fingers on one hand and four on the other.

"We were keeping him in our hearts," Bryan Harper said. "I told him to keep his head up, that I love him. ... We all wanted to play with him one more time."

They tried everything.

They just weren't good enough.

The College of Southern Nevada is out of the Junior College World Series, and Bryce Harper's amateur playing career is probably finished as well, the Coyotes unable to extend their season at Suplizio Field on Thursday in hopes their star freshman catcher might represent the team one more time.

There are losses, and there are excruciating ones, the latter being how CSN was eliminated by Iowa Western, 9-8. You can't get more dramatic than a walk-off, two-run home run by a kid who had never hit such a memorable shot. You also can't be more depressed if you're the team that had grabbed the lead with a three-run homer moments earlier.

What is it about directional schools from Iowa ripping the hearts out of Nevada-based teams?

Northern Iowa against UNLV in basketball and now this. If you didn't know better, you'd have thought that game-winning homer was struck by Ali Farokhmanesh.

"I didn't know if it was going to get out," said Brent Seifert, who hit the 2-0 fastball off CSN closer Aaron Kurcz. "But I saw (center fielder Josh Demerol) jump up on the fence and it was over."

Over for the game, the CSN season, the time young Harper will spend in a Coyotes uniform.

"An empty feeling," CSN coach Tim Chambers said. "I thought we fought hard. We didn't get it done."

Harper's fifth-inning ejection from Wednesday's game against San Jacinto (Texas) has become a topic of debate the past 48 hours, from YouTube clips to Twitter to numerous blogs. He was tossed after protesting a called third strike by drawing a line in the dirt with his bat.

He was back at the team hotel during Thursday's game, either listening on the radio or watching via the Internet, following as his brother struggled on the mound, as Gabe Weidenaar gave CSN the lead with a three-run homer in the ninth, as baseball's version of Farokhmanesh took it right back.

"I feel bad for Bryce," Chambers said. "I don't think he deserved what he got. The bottom line is, you can't take away all these kids accomplished this year. I'm not going to tell them anything but how proud I am."

CSN would have had to advance and win tonight for Harper to be eligible for a final game Saturday. It was hardly an impossible task, but it's also true the Coyotes didn't defend or run the bases particularly well their last three games here.

Overall, they were good but far from great.

What a surreal experience, this Juco World Series.

There is no question those who run the tournament owe CSN and Harper's presence a healthy dose of thanks for the kind of attendance numbers this event had never seen, a fact punctuated Thursday when only 3,354 showed to watch CSN without Bryce Harper.

You also had an umpire (Don Gilmore) who in calling out Harper on strikes and then quickly ejecting him displayed more theatrics than a Shakespearean actor and a National Junior College Athletic Association official saying this shortly after Iowa Western's win Thursday: "That's the most enjoyable win out here. There are times when you want a certain team to win."

Weird stuff, but hardly surprising. It's always easier to root against the best player.

The bottom line: Harper's terrific season put the Coyotes in position to win a World Series title, and then he made such a goal incredibly difficult by getting ejected. All the while, his teammates stayed extraordinarily loyal.

"We missed a big part in him not being here (Thursday)," said Bryan Harper, who lasted just 2 1/3 innings on two days' rest. "We just wanted to get those two wins so he could come back and play with us."

They tried everything.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.