UMO's Lancaster gambles, wins big in Conference Carolinas championship

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on May 2, 2017 9:56 AM

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ELON -- With his team tied at three and middle reliever Ethan Horne embroiled in a tense, 2-2 count versus Belmont Abbey slugger Kennan Stanley on Monday, veteran UMO skipper Carl Lancaster gambled big -- then got paid off big.

With a gunslinger's air, the old ball coach paused the Conference Carolinas tournament championship game and motioned for senior stalwart Austin Hutchison -- who calmly trotted to the hill, got loose and hosed the remainder of the side to silence an opportunistic,  teeming bunch of Crusaders.

It was brash.

It was bold.

And it wasn't his only wager of the afternoon.

Later, trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth and the weight of the regional upon his shoulders, Lancaster played the ponies again, this time pinch-hitting on three consecutive occasions for the bottom of his lineup.

The end result?

Mayhem.

Gunner Tolston began UMO's rally-for-the-ages with a single to right field, and was followed in short order by Bradley Ragan, in for Tony Salvaggio.

Ragan's patience at the plate resulted in a walk, which set the stage for junior Trae Sweeting -- who tied matters with a glancing blow to left field.

And just like that, new life.

What happened next was the stuff of lore, with Eastern Wayne High graduate Zack Mozingo sauntering into the box to face right-hander Robert Frantzis.

A couple of pitches in, Mozingo turned on a main street offering and pulled what appeared to be the walk-off winner down the right field chalk.

With both dugouts craning their collective neck to see the rope's final destination, it was ruled foul.

Mozingo, however, climbed back in and displayed the patience of a rabbit box, drawing a pass from Frantzis and clearing the way for fellow senior Ricky Surum.

The rest, as they say, is now history.

Surum, weathered throughout this campaign but no worse for the wear, dug in and brought a formal end to the proceedings by drawing a walk -- one that gave the Trojans a 14th Conference Carolinas tournament title and likely, hosting duties when regional assignments are handed out by the NCAA in the coming week.

Done and done.

Never a doubt, right?  

Pre-game, Lancaster hinted to UMO public address announcer Shane Aube that  "everybody's available" and "this ought to be a good one."

Little did the UMO faithful know that he meant anytime, any place or anywhere.

But that's how you coach draft picks, collect over a thousand collegiate victories and  make people forget the ups and downs of a season ago.

You let your players play.

You take chances.

And you win.