'Locked in' Tigers reach Nike RBI World Series semifinals

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- In their quarterfinal baseball game in the Nike RBI World Series on Thursday morning, the PLAY BALL Detroit Tigers did what they have done the entire tournament.

They took care of the three A’s, which had nothing to do with Oakland’s Major League club.

Starting pitcher Marwynn Matthews fired six-plus sharp innings as the Tigers shrugged off a slow start, scored six times over three frames and cruised to a 10-5 victory over Nike RBI Austin (Tex.) on the Teamwork Field at legendary Jackie Robinson Training Complex.

The win propelled Detroit (3-1) to Thursday afternoon’s semifinal matchup against Chicago White Sox Nike RBI and continued a trend with a third straight win after losing to the South Side club in its opener.

“We’ve been locked in. We’ve beaten Atlanta, Arizona and Austin -- all the A’s,” said Tigers coach Aaron Wilson, whose squad claimed a berth in the tournament by beating Cleveland in the East Region.

The Texas team led 1-0 in the top of the second after a leadoff single from Brady Richardson followed by Landon Grimes’ hooking RBI double into the left field corner.

The early deficit, though a slim one, was a wakeup call.

“Absolutely,” Wilson said. “We came out a little flat early. We play inning-by-inning, not game-by-game. We were tied after inning No. 1, but we came back in innings Nos. 2, 3 and 4.”

Detroit scored three runs on four hits in the second, then plated two and one, respectively, in the third and fourth innings to take a commanding 6-1 advantage.

Matthews was at his strongest in those innings, retiring nine straight Austin batters as his club created separation on the scoreboard.

Wilson said in the single-elimination contest that he had to turn to Matthews, who worked with batterymate and future Western Michigan University teammate Nolan Zajac.

“We knew we had a must-win game and that’s who we’re giving the ball to 10 times out of 10," Wilson said of the slender fireballer. "He’s going to be a bulldog and roll as much as he can."

Over Matthews' six-inning start (101 pitches) that ended after hitting leadoff batter Bobby Humphries in the seventh with his final offering, Matthews allowed just four hits -- two in the second and two in the fifth -- and three runs, the final one being Humphries.

The right-hander likes working with Zajac.

“It’s pretty sweet to have that connection,” said Matthews, who struck out eight, walked one and hit two batters. “We’ve been playing [together] in the summer the whole year and we have the same travel team. We just ended up on [the Tigers] for the last tournament before we head off to college.

“It’s pretty nice to get that chemistry going.”

Zajac went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. A courtesy runner for the catcher scored twice.

However, Zajac’s most impressive play occurred in the fifth after Humphries’ leadoff single to center and Matthews' plunking of Sion Benjamin with Detroit ahead, 6-1.

A delivery from Matthews got away from Zajac about 10 feet behind him. He skittered over to the ball, wheeled and threw out Humphries trying to advance to third.

Austin scored once in the frame, but a potential crooked-number inning was shut down by Zajac’s strong arm to record the first out at third base.

“I dropped it, and it was a little off to my left,” the backstop said. “I saw where it went. I just tried to get to it as fast as I could and turn around and make a throw. As a catcher, you just always have to be ready for those kinds of things.”

Added Wilson of Zajac stymying the threat: “That was a huge play.”

In Detroit’s 10-hit attack, Matthews and Kole Waterman (two RBIs) had two hits apiece, while Aamir Mitchell was 1-for-1 with three RBIs, two on sacrifice flies, and a walk.

Making its first appearance in the World Series since 2021, Austin saw its tourney conclude with a 1-3 mark, but coach Chase Almendarez made memories with his staff and group.

“It’s been a great experience for these kids and us as coaches as well,” Almendarez said. “To come to [the JRTC] has been unreal. To have the opportunity to play in this World Series was awesome.

“To represent Austin and the state of Texas in this has been an unbelievable experience we’re grateful for.”