Chirpich shuts the door, Martins capture fourth state title
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NEW PRAGUE - Spencer Chirpich had a feeling he would take the mound once more during Sunday night's MBA Class C State Tournament Championship. Fairmont Martins manager Levi Becker couldn't keep his ace out of such a high-stakes game against the Elrosa Saints. The question wasn't necessarily if, but when.
"A lot of people yesterday were asking me [if he would pitch again]," Chirpich said. "I just told them, let's see what the game brings, and we went with the plan."
In the home half of the seventh inning at New Prague Memorial Park, Fairmont's 5-1 cushion began to narrow after the Saints finally capitalized on some of their scoring chances. Peyton Winter's infield RBI single cashed in a runner from the corner before a Blaine Fischer walk loaded the bases once more.
Every inch of momentum seemed to be on Elrosa's side with only one away. This is the situation Chirpich walked into. Despite throwing three complete games in the tournament thus far, one of which came Friday night against the Richmond Royals, the right-hander couldn't step out of the spotlight.
"We knew we were going to go to him at the end. He was a little shaky about it, but once he got to that spot, he said, 'I'll go,'" Levi Becker stated. "Spencer comes in, Luke's [Becker] playing short, I'm playing second. He looks at me and goes, 'We're riding or dying with this,' and I said, 'Yup.'"
A tag-up from Jackson Peter's infield flyout and Ethan Mueller's bloop single to shallow center field pushed the Saints within one. But a forced grounder from Ashton Dingmann fell into the awaiting glove of second baseman Levi Becker. He converted the throw to Joey Crissinger at first to limit the damage. It was a sigh of relief for the traveling Martins fanbase.
Chirpich rode this momentum the rest of the contest. Blanking Elrosa over the eighth and ninth frames, Fairmont held on to secure the 5-4 victory over the Saints. It's the Martins’ fourth title in program history and their first since 2020.
"Throughout the lineup during the regular season, there are different guys all the time," Levi Becker said. "But in all five state games, we had everybody in that lineup. It was easy. Just writing that same lineup. And up and down that roster, there is nobody that has a deeper lineup than us."
Heroics from Chirpich aside, the biggest key to Sunday's victory, and the rest of Fairmont's march through the tournament, has been its ability to score first. Their previous four games saw the Martins plate at least a couple of runs before their opponent could even react.
Levi Becker said this early pressure completely changed the game in their favor. Fairmont's championship game performance saw a similar recipe in the second inning off opposing starting pitcher Jared Cortez.
Jon Traetow led the rally with a one-out hit-by-pitch to take first base. Lance Becker's ricochet shot off third, and the first of two Chirpich singles quickly loaded the bases. The big blow came from Levi Becker in the No. 9 spot. He collected all three of his team-high RBIs with a line drive to right field.
Fairmont tacked on two additional runs in the third and sixth innings. Crissinger scored from his spot on third after a wild pitch got past Fischer at the plate. Later, Traetow's lead-off double was capitalized on with another outfield laser by Chirpich.
The added insurance dismissed Cortez from his duties on the rubber. Elrosa's draft pick from Norway Lake-Sunburg finished his five innings with four hits and four free bases. All five runs were earned.
Dylan Kluis, Fairmont's own draft pick from the Hadley Buttermakers, opened the game with two frames of one-run baseball. Levi Becker called in Josh Smith to hopefully give the Martins a handful of clean innings.
The righty did that and more during his 80-pitch outing. Smith fired four consecutive shutout frames to retain the Martins’ lead going into the seventh. He allowed six hits while striking out a pair.
Elrosa stranded seven runners during this stretch. Helping Smith through the Saints’ consistent attempts to rally was the Fairmont defense. From Luke Becker's impressive shortstop coverage in the sixth to catcher Zach Jorgenson's run-preventing tag at home in the seventh, it was a team effort that continuously etched zeros on the home team's scoreboard. The Martins ended the tournament with just three errors.
"Smith was huge for putting zeros on the board. He put zeros on the board for four straight innings," Levi Becker said. "I know he struggled in the seventh, but that was huge. It was just, how could we get to the end? We knew Spencer was coming, but just weren't sure how early."
Fairmont finished with four players on the Class C All-Tournament Team - Chirpich, Crissinger, Traetow and Luke Becker. Crissinger took home the award for most outstanding hitter. The recent Iowa Central Community College commit finished the postseason with a .550 batting average, six doubles, a home run and five RBIs.
Chirpich earned titles of Mike Davison Most Outstanding Pitcher and Fred Roufs MVP in the Class C tournament. His 29 and two-thirds innings saw a 0.61 earned run average and 22 strikeouts. At the plate, he hit .368 with four RBIs.
Fairmont's previous state title run in 2020 was without Chirpich's contributions. After playing in the regular season, the Abilene Christian University pitcher went back to Texas to begin his senior year. This time around, he made sure to be a part of the postseason lineup, making a direct impact on Fairmont’s second title victory in the past six years.
"It feels really good," Chirpich said. "I played the regular season but wasn't here for the tournament, and so this one felt really good."