Freshman Jordan Westburg, previously famous for popularizing the utilization of a banana for rallies, hung a grand, massive dong in the 2nd inning to put his Bulldogs up 4-1.
On a 1-2 pitch, a count that started 0-2, Westburg put a mighty swing on a slider, moving away towards the meat of his barrel, and planted it four rows deep in the bleachers above the left field bullpen.
“He went fastball, breaking ball, fastball breaking ball I think the fourth pitch I think I had an idea what he was trying to do,” Westburg said of his grand dong, “I put a good swing on it [and] caught a lot of barrel. And it’s just an unbelievable feeling. Yeah, I think I knew it was going off the bat. But with the wind blowing and bases loaded, just making sure it got out.”
Westburg got the bases loaded again in the 8th and didn’t disappoint, poking a sinker off the end of his bat into the left field corner. With his 7 RBIs as a 9-hole hitter, he officially entered rarefied CWS lore with his heroic performance.
North Carolina’s defense was the difference (Williams / WBR)
North Carolina’s starter Austin Bergner was failed, ultimately, by his defense. All but one of the four runs allowed during that grand dong was earned – which was Westburg’s – as the Tar Heel defense seemingly fell apart and sputtered from the get go. Justin Foscue reached base in that second inning off an error from Kyle Datres. Datres committed another costly error in the 8th to allow a run to score.
In the meantime, Bergner was racking up strikeouts. He had eight on the day through his seven innings, dominating batters with first pitch strikes, and managed to get into the 8th inning with a 4-2 game hanging in the balance.
He proceeded to give up back-to-back singles to start the eighth, then made a bizarre pickoff throw to second base that sailed and rolled into center field. With both runners moving into scoring position, and Bergner intentionally loading the bases, Mike Fox fingered Josh Hiatt to get the Tar Heels out of the jam.
Instead, Hiatt gave up three consecutive base knocks, and the Bulldogs were on a roll.
Fox’s gamble, like the Napoleon Dynamite animated series of the similarly named network, failed miserably. The Heels down 7-2, Fox pegged Rodney Hutchinson to try to stop the bleeding. Instead, Ike Freeman fielded a grounder to short and threw low to the catcher to try to get an out. It was too low, with Martorano scrambling to recover as the ball made a pathetic roll away from him, giving the Bulldogs their 8th run of the ballgame and their fifth of the inning.
Hail State avoided the hail in the win. (Williams / WBR)
Hutchinson got a fly out to shallow right to save his bacon. With the bases still chucked, Hutchinson reversed his luck by doling out a run scoring meat unit. After a strikeout, Hutchinson looked down the pipe at Jordan Westburg, who had the bases loaded again.
That’s when Westburg got his aforementioned three extra RBI’s, putting this game on ice, putting the Tar Heels into the proverbial coffin with the Beavers holding a box of nails and a mallet.
By the end of the 8th, the Bulldogs had 8 cross the plate in a tournament with 8 participating teams.
They won 12-2.
All in all this was exactly what no one expected, especially with the forecast earlier in the day.
Hail yeah, Clanga.