If there were any positive remembrances in the 2012 season for the SCAD Bees Baseball team, one of the foremost would be that they shined when it came to crunch time.  They finished their conference play at just under .500 at 12-13.  They qualified as the last seed on the last day in their final season in The Sun Conference.  But then they did what the most ardent SCAD fan had hoped for.  They battled and clawed their way to the title game by defeating the number 1 seed Embry-Riddle not once, but twice.  It was a storybook that deserved a different ending. 
 
The odds were against them if you were evaluating the team strictly on statistics.  Their opponent in the championship game was St. Thomas.  The Bobcats were the number 3 seed.  They owned a 42-12 record compared to SCAD's 30-29.  They had beaten SCAD in all three of their previous regular season meetings by a differential of 39-17 in runs scored.  It looked like a mismatch.  But everyone knows that you do not win or lose games on paper.  There is such a thing as character.  And that is what the Bees demonstrated under the leadership of Doug Wollenburg and his Assistant Coach Brett Lewis.
 
The final game was an example of how the Bees played all year.  It came down to a final strike, a final out, and then a final game, in a final season.  The Bees gave it all they had, but after the final out was made, they can truthfully say that they went out, not with a whimper, but a bang.
 
Game Results

The Bobcats wasted no time in getting to SCAD starter Micah Thompson, plating a run in the first thanks to a single, two stolen bases, and a single.  But SCAD came back as they have in past games.  Hunter Pope opened the home-half of the first, doubling to begin the frame, then moving to third, and then touching home on consecutive fly outs by Will Cioffi and Jamison Sweat to tie the score tied at 1-1.

St. Thomas put together a nice inning in the third, but only came away with one run in the frame. With the bases loaded after one run had already scored, the Bobcats' hitter flied out to deep center field. All the runners tagged up and were advancing when Carson Parker made a strong throw to second base where the runner was tagged out before the Bobcat attempting to score could touch home.  The play kept the STU lead at 2-1.

Matt Zajac kick-started the Bees' fourth with his second double of the day.  After the Bobcat pitcher got two quick outs, Eduardo Acosta, the hero of yesterday's game, recorded a clutch single down the left field line that pushed Zajac across the plate to tie the game at 2-2.

Sweat gave his team a huge boost in the bottom of the sixth when he led off the frame with a solo homer over the wall in left field (his fourth of the year), giving the Bees its first lead at 3-2 lead.

Micah Thompson got in trouble in the seventh allowing the first two batters to reach safely before he was relieved by Dylan Weber-Callahan.  Callahan, the winning pitcher in the first round, walked the leadoff hitter.  He was sacrificed to second, where he was brought in to tie the game with a fielder's choice ground ball to short.

STU took their third lead of the afternoon in the top half of the eighth when Thompson gave up a leadoff single.  The runner was sacrificed to second.  It was then that the Bobcats came through with a clutch hit of their own that drove in the go-ahead run giving the Bobcats a 4-3 advantage.

SCAD threatened in their half of the eighth. With one out Mark Malec singled and Jonathan Andrews walked.  The Bobcats went to a relief pitcher who was able to get out of the inning with no damage.  That would be the last real threat for the Bees.  The Bees went quietly in the ninth.  They battled hard, but they could not come back this time.  Final score - Bobcats 4, Bees 3.

Wollenburg's final year coaching the Bees saw him win his 300^th and 301^st win in eleven seasons with SCAD.  Both he and his assistant coach, Brett Lewis, will be remembered for their professionalism, character, and leadership.  They are wished well in their future endeavors.  They certainly will be missed, but will certainly be successful wherever they go.