Baseball: Oakton advances to NJCAA World Series finale

The Oakton Community College baseball team grinded its way to the national championship game of the NJCAA Division III World Series by defeating Tyler Community College (Texas) 3-2 on Tuesday in Greeneville, Tenn.

"We knew this would be a close game playing the defending national champions," Oakton coach Bill Fratto said in a news release. "But we knocked them out, and we're now playing for a national championship. I'm so incredibly proud of this team. We put ourselves in a good position, but we're not done yet."

Oakton starter Luis Savigne (Miami, Brito Miami Private School) earned the win, throwing 120 pitches while facing 31 batters in the process. Savigne (7-2) pitched 6 innings, surrendered 6 hits and allowed no earned runs. He also punched out five batters and walked six Apaches.

"Luis really gutted it out for us," Fratto said. "We needed six innings from him, and that's what he gave us. He did a good job and eventually settled down on the mound after some jitters."

Alexander Crinnigan (Hampshire), the winning pitcher in Oakton's first game of the tournament, picked up his third save of the year after recording the last two outs of the game.

"Alex is a bulldog," Fratto said. "He's a special kid a program gets once in a long, long time."

Relief pitcher Jackson Fischer (Westmont) did a stellar job out of the bullpen, striking out two and allowing 2 hits over 1⅔ innings. He was clutch in the seventh, getting out of a bases-loaded jam by recording the last out of the inning on a fielder's choice.

First baseman Dan Sullivan (St. Viator) went 2-for-4 and got the scoring going by driving in Trevor Heinlein with a double to right center in the bottom of the first. Second baseman Christopher Broccolino (Schaumburg) put Oakton ahead 2-1 in the fourth with his RBI single to right. Third baseman Jose Vera Sanchez closed out the scoring for the Owls with his solo home run to left in the sixth.

Oakton (43-16) not only set a school record for wins in a single season with the victory, but also ended the Apaches' 18-game win streak in World Series play. Owls pitching held Tyler at bay, stranding 16 runners while holding the Apaches to just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

"We'll be playing for the national championship tomorrow and looking to bring a title back to Oakton," Fratto said. "Our team is not overconfident. Getting that last win is always the hardest."

Tyler and Rowan Gloucester were scheduled for an elimination game Tuesday evening that would determine Oakton's opponent at 7 p.m. Wednesday for the national title.

In the most recent NJCAA polling, Rowan Gloucester was ranked No. 2, Tyler was No. 3 and Oakton was No. 4.