Arizona Christian brings the heat to its first Series
May 23—Arizona Christian has been close several times, but now it's finally there.
The Firestorm punched their ticket to the Avista NAIA World Series after going undefeated in the Lewiston Bracket of the NAIA Opening Round.
Arizona Christian's undefeated stretch in Opening Round came at the expense of Lewis-Clark State's 25-year streak as World Series competitors and featured some season-best showings from several of its players.
Senior pitcher Adrian Santa Cruz crafted a nine-inning shutout with 12 strikeouts against the Warriors. Marques Titialii, who this season broke almost every hitting record that the Firestorm had, posted a three-game total of seven hits, eight RBI and two home runs in 12 at-bats.
Titialii has a .384 batting average this season and Santa Cruz has a 4.09 ERA with 100 strikeouts.
The Firestorm had to take on a Herculean labor that was the Golden State Athletic Conference before even having a shot at the World Series.
The GSAC sent four teams to the Opening Round, more than any other conference. One of those teams, Hope International (Calif.), is joining Arizona Christian as a World Series competitor.
"I think that was huge for us — just competing against good teams all year," Titialii said. "Even the bottom of our conference was competitive. Then we had Hope International and Jessup. ... I think it really helped us understand the type of adversity that we're going to have to deal with and how to deal with it."
The Firestorm started the season 14-14 before going 18-3 the rest of the way in the regular season. They followed that with a 1-2 showing in the GSAC tournament, but going through that gantlet probably earned them an at-large berth in the Opening Round.
And they were all the better for it.
"From the get-go, we had a motto for the year," Arizona Christian coach Joe McDonald said. "At our first team meeting, it was the first thing we talked about, the first thing I put on the PowerPoint slide. It was 'Year of the Dawgpile.' And that's exactly what we did. We had a vision and our guys worked hard and they did it together."
The Firestorm are hitting .327 as a team with 95 home runs on the year (24 from Titialii). The team is also getting on base at a .430 clip.
ACU's pitching stats are a little inflated, which is understandable considering the offenses it faced in the GSAC. But Santa Cruz (4.09 ERA) and fellow starter Eli Elliott (3.20 ERA) are more than capable of carrying the Firestorm through the first couple of days in the Series. Relievers Jackson Van Eyk (2.45 ERA) and Clay Esqueda (3.86 ERA) can also get the team out of some jams if need be.
Arizona Christian's offense and pitching are peaking at the perfect time. In a field with teams like Southeastern, Georgia Gwinnett, William Carey and Cumberlands, Series observers might overlook the Firestorm. But they've been exceeding all expectations this season, and there's no reason to suspect they'll stop now.
> Arizona Christian
Location: Glendale, Ariz.
Nickname: Firestorm
Coach: Joe McDonald (sixth season)
Season record: 36-19
Rank in final NAIA poll: RV
How qualified: Won Lewiston Bracket
Number of appearances; best finish: First World Series appearance
> Juice (out of five stars)
STARTERS: ****
Adrian Santa Cruz and Eli Elliott are playing some of their best baseball of the season. Santa Cruz is coming off a nine-inning, 12-strikeout performance and Elliott has allowed more than three runs just twice in 15 starts this season.
RELIEVERS: *** 1/2
ACU's bullpen is steady, but not invulnerable. The Firestorm's top four most-experienced relievers this year have allowed a combined nine home runs, but just one has an ERA above 4.50.
FIELDING: ***
The Firestorm have a .962 fielding percentage in 1,855 total chances. They've been victim to some miscues against the high-powered offenses in their conference. But they've started to clean things up and only committed two errors in three games in the Lewiston Bracket.
HITTING: **** 3/4
ACU's lineup is dangerous. It has just one hitter on the team with at least 70 at-bats who's hitting below .300. Titiallii is batting .384 on the year with 24 home runs and 83 RBI and a 1.267 OPS. This team is built to score runs, which is does in abundance.
SPEED: ****
Another thing that makes the Firestorm dangerous is they have so many runners capable of getting in scoring position. ACU has six runners with more than 10 steals on the year, one with over 20, and have snagged 96 bags in 120 attempts.
INTANGIBLES: *** 1/2
This is the Firestorm's first World Series in program history. Even without LCSC in it, there's a who's who of bluebloods to go through (Southeastern, Georgia Gwinnett, Tennessee Wesleyan). But ACU has one of the most dangerous offenses and a roster that has been prepping for this all year. Underestimate the Firestorm at your own risk.
