VIDEO: The final out and ensuing dogpile
--The home runs: Joey Grabanski in the third | Jaidan Quinn in the fifth
SEWARD, Neb. – Two unmistakable pings of the bat and the fine work of five different pitchers yielded a dogpile of Bulldogs amidst the twilight of a pleasant spring Seward evening. This never gets old for the Concordia University Baseball program, which celebrated its seventh overall GPAC crown in a span of seven seasons. In the 2024 GPAC Baseball Championship Game, the 19th-ranked Bulldogs got the best of rival and 13th-ranked Doane, 5-1, on Tuesday (May 7) evening at Plum Creek Park, which welcomed its largest crowd of the season. The occasion marked the third time in four years that the two sides have met up in the conference title game.
Head Coach Ryan Dupic has presided over three GPAC tournament titles (all in the past four seasons) and four conference regular season championships since beginning his tenure in 2015. This one felt just as sweet as any of them.
“It feels great. I’m just so happy for the players,” said Dupic moments after being doused with ice water. “I feel like it’s a really special group and they deserve to have the opportunity to have this experience in front of their family and friends. For everybody to be a part of this is really special. The part people may not know about is that we’ve battled through a lot of injuries this year, especially with our pitching staff. That makes today really special. I just can’t say enough of their resiliency and their growth as people.”
The task on Tuesday was a challenging one as Concordia took on Doane ace pitcher Aaron Forrest, who entered the contest with an unblemished 10-0 record. But like a lot of pitchers, Forrest couldn’t recover from mistakes made at the mercy of two of the NAIA’s most vaunted sluggers – Joey Grabanski and Jaidan Quinn. Grabanski got the game’s scoring started in the third inning with a two-run blast to left center (86th career homer). Two innings later, Quinn deposited the first pitch he saw from Forrest over the wall in right center for another two-run smash (72nd of his career). It was 4-1 in favor of the home team at the time.
While Doane used only two pitchers (Forrest for six innings and Ethan Merk for two), Dupic mixed and matched with a bullpen that has been lights out in the postseason. Christian Gutierrez started and worked 3.2 shutout innings before giving way to Kellen Ingram with runners on second and third. Ingram proceeded to fan Noah Winkelman to end the threat. Jacob Lycan also made big pitches in the fifth to strand two runners on base – and got aid from Ty Nekoliczak’s highlight-reel diving stab in the hole to end the frame.
Concordia pitchers were throwing an invisible ball. They combined for 15 strikeouts of Tiger hitters. Gutierrez and Lycan posted six K’s apiece and Ingram, Logan Fragomeni and Maverick Wyler notched one each. The majority of hits for Doane were softly hit flares into the outfield. A final popup to the outfield landed in the glove of Alec Blakestad in center – and the celebration was on.
This was exactly what the 12 seniors would have hoped for in their final appearance at Plum Creek Park. The larger-than-life Grabanski posed for photos and even signed autographs like a local celebrity. Said Grabanski afterwards, “Honestly, it feels amazing. It feels like just yesterday we started the season. To end it on a good note at home is always the best way to go … We were just sticking to our approach. We knew he was going to mix it up a lot. I was just sitting on something I knew I could hit. I got something elevated and was able to capitalize on it.”
This was also the last home game for former second baseman turned right fielder Jay Adams, the program’s all-time hits leader and someone who has routinely starred in clutch moments. Said Adams after the championship, “It feels really good after last year, having that little hiccup. It was a close game last year (1-0 loss to Doane in the 2023 championship game) in that same situation. This year we really wanted to turn around and bring back that title. We did just that. It’s really special to continue to run with these guys.”
Nekoliczak helped put a cherry on top by adding an RBI double for insurance in the bottom of the eighth. Grabanski finished with two hits, Quinn reached base three times and catcher Michael Welch hammered out three hits of his own. Both squads played error-free ball.
Doane (38-13) shared the 2024 GPAC regular season title with Concordia and will be headed to the national tournament with an automatic bid of its own. The only run of the night for the Tigers came when Cristian Yanez singled home a teammate in the fifth. Scoring opportunities became scarcer as the game wore on. During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Doane went a combined 5-0 against the Bulldogs. However, Concordia got back on the winning side of the rivalry (3-0) in 2024.
Said Dupic, “It means a lot because they’re very good. They have a really good program. I respect them a lot. It’s always going to be tough games when you play them. I’m really proud of our guys for the way they played.”
NAIA National Championship Selection Show
Concordia and Doane will learn of their draws for the 2024 NAIA National Championship Opening Round via the NAIA Selection Show scheduled for 4 p.m. CT on Thursday (May 9). That show can be viewed by accessing the NAIA YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/PlayNAIA) at that date and time. Opening round host locations were announced by the NAIA on May 1 and can be found HERE. The opening round is slated to play out May 13-16 with the NAIA World Series to follow in Lewiston, Idaho, May 24-31.