Furious rally falls short for Fairfield

FAIRFIELD — A stagnant night for the Fairfield offense nearly turned magical, but in the end it was a disappointing end to the Trojans’ 2022 baseball season.

Fairfield rallied back from a four-run deficit against visiting Keokuk on Friday night, but after cutting the lead to 4-3 in their final at-bat, the Trojans stranded the bases loaded as Keokuk escaped with a one-run lead.

“Keokuk played a great game,” said Fairfield head coach Josh Allison. “They outplayed us for six innings, and you can't expect to win the game if you only outplay the other team for one.”

That one inning was the seventh. The Trojans entered the bottom half of the final inning down 4-0, but as the odds of a win dwindled down, they fought to the very end.

Fairfield would load the bases with nobody out after singles by Tate Allen and Dylan Hunter, and a walk from Nate Woodburn. A one-out sacrifice fly by Tallon Bates cut the Keokuk lead to 4-1. Connor Lyons singled a runner in and Chandler Pumphrey walked with the bases juiced to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Trojans knocked out Keokuk starter Bryor Lindner and the Chiefs brought in senior Jordan Sisk to face Fairfield senior Nate Smithburg with the game on the line.

Smithburg hit the ball hard but directly to the first baseman, and the Trojans’ furious comeback was stalled one run short.

“I'm really proud of the guys to finish strong there,” said Allison. “They had some grit.”

Allen took the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) over five innings. He struck out four batters. Smithburg struck out five batters over two shut out innings in relief.

Fairfield ended its season at 16-16. The Trojans graduate a big senior class, including six from Friday’s starting lineup.

“There's nine of those seniors out there,” Allison said. “They kept battling, and they kept working for us.”