May 9, 2013 - "Baseball is a game of inches" goes the old cliche, and it was proven once again today to the advantage of the Concordia Cougars. Senior Nick Contorno's (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) catch in left-centerfield at full speed prevented the Cougars from a devastating loss, and Concordia advanced to the third round of the Northern Athletics Conference baseball tournament with a 7-5 win over Rockford College.

The Cougars took a quick 1-0 lead with some help. Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) was hit by a pitch with one out. Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, WI/Grant Community) then hit a one-hopper which momentarily handcuffed the shortstop. His throw to second base for the force was wild, allowing Miller to sprint to third. Moments later, Rockford starter Kyle Pisano stopped halfway through his delivery and was called for a balk which allowed Miller to cross the plate.

Concordia expanded on its lead in the second. With runners on the corners and one out, Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) executed a perfect squeeze bunt and reached base himself when nobody covered first base. Joe Moran (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame) singled to load the bases. With Miller at bat, a passed ball scored Dan LoDolce (Northlake, IL/Walther Lutheran). Miller then ripped a single over the first baseman's head to score Zubrzycki for a 4-0 lead.

Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) shut down the Regents over the first two innings, but an error opened the door for Rockford in the third. The error was followed by a bunt single by Jake Gorsuch, and both runners were moved along on a sacrifice. Cole Logemann then doubled to the gap in right-center, one of his four hits on the day, to cut the Cougars' lead in half at 4-2.

Another three-run inning by Concordia in the fifth threatened to put the game out of reach. With two on and one out, Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) went the opposite way for a run-scoring double. A walk loaded the bases, and Zubrzycki doubled down the rightfield line. Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) and Weis scored, and the Cougars led 7-2.

The Regents scored a run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. Another run scored in the sixth as the Cougars had a runner picked off third base. In the ensuing rundown, the Cougars dropped the ball on the tag.

The late innings belonged to the long relievers. Rockford's Kaleb Rich held Concordia to just one hit over the final four innings. The Cougars' Louis Foss (Warner Robins, GA/Houston County) was charged with the unearned tally in the sixth but shut down the Regents in the seventh and eighth innings.

Still a three-run game entering the bottom of the ninth, the Cougars were forced to fight for their lives. Foss struck out the first batter, but the third strike got away and a bad throw to first base put the lead runner aboard. Kyle LaMore came up with a pinch-single, bringing the tying run to the plate and Paul Kukulka (Lake Villa, IL/Lakes Community) into the game in relief of Foss.

Kukulka struck out Gorsuch for the first out. Adrian Gameros then reached base as his tapper towards short tipped off of Kukulka's glove, enough to turn the potential double-play ball into an infield single. The hit loaded the bases for Logemann, but Kukulka won the seven-pitch battle by getting Logemann to wave at a third strike.

With one out to go and the winning run at the plate, head coach Adam Smith went to the bullpen again for closer Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook). Daryn Streed swung at Cox's first pitch and hit it softly into centerfield, scoring one run and moving the other runners up a base. That brought cleanup hitter Chris Senn to the plate. He too swung at the first pitch and hit a liner ticketed for the left-center gap. Leftfielder Contorno, who had entered the game a few innings earlier as a defensive replacement, ran several steps to his left, stretched out as far as possible and snared the potential game-winning hit.

"It was a rough day for us defensively," said Smith. "Fortunately, Nick came up and made a great play when we needed it the most."

Kempema improved to 6-0 with the win. The southpaw allowed three runs (two earned) in his five innings, striking out three and walking two. Cox nailed down his 11th save of the season; the junior currently ranks seventh nationally in Division III.

The win allowed Concordia to match its season-high win streak at 12 games. The Cougars (34-5) will play Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against either second-seeded Benedictine University or third-seeded Aurora University.