Ten Since Ten
A decade later: 2010 Flashes’ magical run to MAC Baseball pennant defies belief
5/27/2020
By Ty Linder
Throughout Kent State's illustrious baseball history, there have been great players, awe-inspiring moments, stunning edge-of-your-seat games and a string of championships to almost single-handedly keep Jostens in business.
While a debate can rage on which team started it all, there is no doubt the KSU baseball era of 2006-2012 shines the brightest. Those squads, led by former Flashes catcher Scott Stricklin (who, along with his 1992 and 1993 teammates could stake a claim on the teams who started it all), accounted for 11 championships: four regular season conference crowns, five league post-season pennants and of course two NCAA Regional and Super Regional flags – both clinched in the magical 2012 season.
While Kent State's improbable 2012 run to Nebraska may have shocked many nationwide, it came as less of a surprise to those around the school and the league. Just one year prior to the march to Omaha, the Golden Flashes waltzed right into Austin and reached the NCAA Regional Finals with back-to-back wins over Texas State and Texas – the latter victory coming 7-5 when Andrew Chafin bested the heretofore unbeaten Taylor Jungmann.
This win over college baseball royalty in the heart of Camelot set the stage for the dramatic five-month period a year later. But a case could be made that neither historic run takes place without the team two years before the College World Series squad. And the 2010 Golden Flashes may have simply been just a footnote in program history had it not been for an unprecedented 60-hour stretch of baseball in the sleepy southern Ohio town of Chillicothe.
This is the story of that stretch.
BACKGROUND
On May 22, 2010, Kent State completed a three-game sweep of the Akron Zips at Lee Jackson Field. The wins gave Kent State a final regular season record of 35 wins and 21 losses. KSU, the defending league tournament champions, qualified for the MAC Tournament as the two seed thanks to a 19-8 record. Central Michigan took the top seed, finishing one game better than Kent State at 20-7. When the two teams met in Kent in April, KSU won 13-0 and fell 11-7 and 7-6.
Head Coach Scott Stricklin (SS): "I thought we had a great chance to win it. We came in with a lot of confidence and I felt we were the most talented team. I felt really good going into that conference tournament."
Junior Pitcher Kyle Hallock (KH): "We were prepared, confident and ready to roll. We had practiced with that level of pressure and set of expectations since the first day of fall baseball in September through the winter practices in the field house. We always felt prepared for the conference tournament every year because we approached every single day as the MAC Championship game. That approach has transformed into a lifestyle for many of us."
Junior Pitcher Robert Sabo (RS): "We were a confident bunch, and we had all of talent in the world. We were also playing our best baseball. For most of the team we had all been there and had won. So we felt prepared, confident and relaxed. We were ready to roll and we fully expected to add to the trophy case."
Junior Pitcher Justin Gill (JG): "We came in with a young ball club and a lot to prove. We lost the front end of the rotation due to injury and a lot of guys on the pitching staff were trying to prove themselves. We believed if we got hot, we could make something happen and make it back to the NCAA Tournament. We had a bunch of guys with grit, the determination to win and enjoyed playing the game together."
#2 KENT STATE VS. #7 EASTERN MICHIGAN – FIRST ROUND GAME
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2010 – VA MEMORIAL STADIUM – CHILLICOTHE, OHIO
An oft-forgotten rival of Kent State's on the diamond, the Eastern Michigan Eagles had home field advantage in the 2007 MAC Championship game in Ypsilanti. Undeterred, the Golden Flashes shocked the Eagles in the finale and advanced to the NCAA Tournament thanks to a weekend dominated by stellar pitching. However, the Eagles took revenge in 2008 when they blasted top-seeded KSU in the title game, 12-4.
Kyle Hallock got the ball to start the 2010 post-season, and the Eagles greeted him rudely. A first-inning grand slam by Todd Graves put Kent State behind the eight-ball early and it was more than enough for EMU starter Kendall Lewis. The Flashes never could get on track through the afternoon and evening and the MAC Tournament had its first upset: EMU 12, KSU 4.
SS: "I was certainly not happy. I didn't think we competed, and I thought we gave in. There were certainly some emotions let off on that bus. I challenged our hitters and our upper classmen."
Associate Head Coach Mike Birkbeck (MB): "I told the entire pitching staff this was a double elimination tournament for a reason. Our guys were pretty calm after the loss. I didn't sense any panic, just a solid resolve to take care of business tomorrow."
KH: "Personally, I didn't do my job as the starting pitcher. I was out-pitched by their starter and I felt directly responsible for underperforming and putting the team in a huge hole by sending us straight to the loser's bracket."
JG: "Anthony Gallas pulled some of us aside and said 'my career is not going to end in Chillicothe, Ohio'. Now down to single elimination, every pitch counts. Every at-bat counts and every pitch counts from here on out. That's fine. We were conditioned to play in high pressure situations. Coach Strick did that. He put us in uncomfortable situations in practice to see us fail. He knew when it came to making that play down the road in the MAC Tournament, we would."
RS: "Now it's a lose-or-go-home situation. At the same time, that meant we had to get beat. Someone had to beat us and that isn't the easiest task for our opposition."
#2 KENT STATE VS. #6 MIAMI – ELIMINATION GAME
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010 – VA MEMORIAL STADIUM – CHILLICOTHE, OHIO
If Eastern Michigan was a forgotten rival of Kent State's on the diamond, the Miami RedHawks were a forget-me-not. In each of the past four seasons, the Golden Flashes beat Miami to end the RedHawks' season – either in the tournament (2006, 2007, 2009) or to keep them out of the tournament (2008). Tempers flared in the 2009 regular season series in Kent and then again in the 2010 series in Oxford. Quite simply put, the two teams did not like each other.
That the two proud programs were meeting in the dreaded 9 A.M. game was a shock to many. KSU handed the ball to veteran righty Robert Sabo, and after a few dicey moments early, Sabo settled into an incredible groove. He threw 144 pitches – unheard of in the annals of modern Kent State history. While KSU's version of "Rapid Robert" stymied the Miami bats, the Flashes' offense responded. Travis Shaw corked a game-tying homer in the second, Evan Campbell blasted an RBI triple later and Ben Klafczynski ripped the game open with a bases-clearing double in the seventh.
Sabo finished the complete game masterpiece with 11 strikeouts. It was his second time going the distance in 2010. KSU 9 MIA 2. Five straight years of the Flashes sending the RedHawks home.
RS: "All the credit goes to the team. I knew what needed to be done. It was very hot that day and my arm felt amazing. There was no way in that moment I wasn't going to come through for the team. I soaked it all in because I knew without a shadow of a doubt we'd be dog-piling again in a couple days."
JG: "Robert was always a tone-setter. From day one when I met him in the dorm at Allyn Hall, he pushed us to be great. It made me so proud of my brother, coming off his shoulder surgery to deliver one of the best performances in KSU history."
MB: "An absolute masterpiece of grit, determination and want. He delivered nine innings of a good game of catch at a high rate of speed."
SS: "He went out there and put us on his shoulders. That performance carried us into the next three games."
KH: "After the elimination game against Miami, we got on the bus and pulled out Brett Weibley's computer and started playing "It's a long way to the top" by AC/DC. The upperclassmen in the back went crazy. This became our anthem and we played it on the bus before and after every game from the Miami game on. I'm pretty sure every time I walked by Weibley and Sabo's room in the hotel it was playing too. We felt connected to the chorus because it related to the situation we were in. It wasn't going to be easy to get to the top from where we were, but we owed it to ourselves and the alumni to give this comeback our absolute best. Still to this day, we will send that song out randomly in group texts to one another. It's a lifelong bond between our players, coaches and even the parents from the run in 2010."
#2 KENT STATE VS. #3 TOLEDO – ELIMINATION GAME
FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2010 – VA MEMORIAL STADIUM – CHILLICOTHE, OHIO
Trying to follow Sabo's lead, sophomore southpaw David Starn locked down Toledo's hitters for seven shutout innings the next day at noon. UT came into the game with its most single-season wins under head coach Cory Mee, but had just lost in extra innings the night before. For the second day in a row, Shaw got the scoring started for Kent with an RBI single. It eventually became 3-0 KSU as Starn cruised into the eighth.
Toledo made it 3-1 and the Flashes' stayed with Starn to start the top of the ninth. The Rockets rallied against the tiring youngster but Justin Gill – the first bullpen arm Kent State was using in 18 innings – kept the game tied at 3-3. It stayed that way into the bottom of the 11th.
Campbell singled to start the frame and was bunted to second by Cory Hindel. Jared Humphreys rocked a breaking ball into the gap to set off a bench-clearing celebration as Kent State sent another club home, stayed alive and earned another game that day – a Friday night rematch with Eastern Michigan. KSU 4 TOL 3.
KH: "David Starn followed Robert Sabo's lead and shoved against a really good lineup. He was nasty. Justin Gill took the ball with something to prove like he always did, and wasn't going to let anyone cross home plate on his watch. Mission accomplished. Just another couple of examples of Golden Flashes doing their jobs at an elite level. This is how we do business at Kent State."
MB: "Survive and advance is the name of the game at that point. David Starn was brilliant and Justin Gill was just lights out. He refused to give an inch."
#2 KENT STATE VS. #7 EASTERN MICHIGAN – SEMI-FINAL GAME #1
FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2010 – VA MEMORIAL STADIUM – CHILLICOTHE, OHIO
With a short break following the emotional win over the Rockets, the Flashes had to come right back and face the Eagles under the lights. With a win, they'd do it again the next day. With a loss, Kent State's title defense would fail.
In a sort of forgotten stellar pitching performance – there have admittedly been quite a few – Ryan Mace toed the slab and was magnificent. The KSU offense posted three in the first, and a grand slam by Klafczynski in the seventh erased all doubt. Meanwhile, Mace sailed through seven and the Flashes were suddenly just one win from a return to the MAC Championship game. KSU 15 EMU 1.
RS: "There was just no getting in the way of rocking and rolling."
#2 KENT STATE VS. #7 EASTERN MICHIGAN – SEMI-FINAL GAME #2
SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2010 – VA MEMORIAL STADIUM – CHILLICOTHE, OHIO
The next afternoon, the Golden Flashes looked seemingly poised for the kill shot. Without a hit, the good guys took a 3-1 first-inning lead. But the Eagles were undeterred in this must-win for both sides. Eventually EMU took an 8-3 lead in the middle of the game thanks to yet another Graves homer and things looked bleak.
KSU was able to plate a pair in the sixth to close the gap to 8-5 but could do no further damage. It was time for the bottom of the ninth. Three outs to go.
A double by Klafczynski and a single by Gallas put runners at the corners to start the inning. Shaw singled to center to make it 8-6 after a pitching change and now Kent State had runners at first and second with still no one out. Jimmy Rider bunted both runners over after yet another pitching change, and Kyle McMillen's shallow fly out to left kept the runners on with two outs.
In a prelude of things to come, young catcher David Lyon smoked a 1-1 fastball into center field to score both runners and tie the game at 8-8. The Flashes dugout erupted as if the hit won the game. A three-run ninth and again a refusal to lose.
To extra innings where a new pitcher emerged from the Kent State bullpen to replace Gill, who had thrown another three innings of scoreless relief. It was Hallock – coming in to face the same lineup which had tormented him just three days ago. He worked a perfect frame – needing just 12 pitches to do it - and turned it over to the offense in the bottom half.
It was almost anti-climactic, and both dugouts seemed to know it. Hindel was hit by a pitch and immediately pinch run for by Joe Koch. Humphreys bunted him over and the Eagles intentionally walked Klafczynski. Gallas singled to load the bases and Shaw stepped to the plate against a gassed EMU bullpen. He worked the count to 3-0, took a strike and then ball four to force in the winning run. Four runs in the last two innings. The win to Hallock and another incredible hold by Gill. From a loss on day one to the title game. KSU 9 EMU 8.
SS: "We found a way to win. We're down to our last out and David Lyon gets that huge hit. I just remember thinking there is no way our season can end like this. At that point I felt like that was one of the biggest hits in Kent State history. I really felt that way. Obviously we re-wrote that book a few times over afterward."
KH: "About half-way through the game, Coach Birkbeck asked if I could pitch if the game went to extra innings. I told him absolutely and warmed up during the ninth, anticipating being put in for the tenth. I jogged in for the start of the tenth from the left field bullpen. The first thing I noticed was EMU's excitement to see me again after beating me Wednesday. Their energy greeted me at the mound. I was equally excited to see them, rolled the zero and we walked it off shortly after."
JG: "Seeing EMU celebrating when Kyle took the mound, I just knew we were mentally tougher. Kyle was a gamer. His light switch flipped on when they did that. They woke him up."
MB: "Zero panic. Our offense just went into 'bite down' mode. They grinded through at-bats and made every one of them count."
RS: "Even with a five-run lead it almost felt like EMU was just trying to hang on. We were in attack mode. We just knew we would find a way to win. After this win I truly felt bad for whoever else stood in our way."
#2 KENT STATE VS. #1 CENTRAL MICHIGAN – MAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2010 – VA MEMORIAL STADIUM – CHILLICOTHE, OHIO
The parallels were eerie. Yes, both the top two seeds of the tournament had reached the point they were expected to, but it took longer than expected routes. Just a few hours before KSU's dramatic late-inning heroics, Central Michigan rallied from a five-run deficit as well in its semi-final game and won in extra innings, 9-8.
And so, just 45 minutes after he'd earned the win against EMU, Hallock toed the slab in Chillicothe against CMU. One of the Kent State fans – his or her name lost to history – put in a song request for the first inning as Hallock started warming up. It was the same AC/DC tune the team had rallied around. Just a few notes over the public address system and the dugout was going berserk.
Whether fueled by Bon Scott or not, Hallock was simply magnificent. He put a clamp on the Chippewas' bats for nearly eight innings while his teammates built a commanding 5-0 lead. He departed after getting an out in the seventh with six strikeouts to his name.
CMU had drawn to within two at 5-3 and had runners aboard. McMillen got one out and then Birkbeck went back to Gill.
With a chance to tie the game, Central's Robbie Harmon hit a one-hop smash back up the middle that looked ticketed for center field. But even with his momentum carrying the opposite direction, Gill somehow stopped, turned and dove to snag the ball – which was behind him – and threw to first to complete one of the best defensive plays – given the circumstances – in Flashes history.
The ninth inning was simply a curtain call. With a runner on first and two outs, Gill induced a fielder's choice ground out to Rider at short, he flipped to Campbell at second and the comeback – and coronation – had been completed. The Flashes had dogpiled in 2007 and 2009 but neither looked like this. Whatever energy was left in KSU's tank was spent on a wild, raucous celebration under the lights in southern Ohio. KSU 5 CMU 3.
SS: "Kyle Hallock was incredible. He wanted the ball and it takes a lot to be able to do what he did. We were at ease with him on the mound. Right after beating Eastern Michigan we met quickly as coaches and asked the rhetorical question, 'it's gotta be Kyle Hallock, right?'. I remember being emotionally drained after the weekend. So many different guys stepped up. We had star power on that team and everyone did their jobs."
KH: "After we won the semi-final game, Coach Stricklin asked me if I could stay loose and start the championship game. Go one time through the lineup then we will staff it the rest of the way. As I warmed up in the right field bullpen, "Its a long way to the top," our theme song for the run was being played. I saw our team going wild as it blared over the speakers. They had so much energy, specifically Anthony Gallas, Brett Weibley, Joe Koch, Robert Sabo and Justin Gill who were near me in the bullpen as I warmed back up. That moment is when the plan to start and go through the lineup one time changed for me. I wanted to be a ball hog and take us as far as I could go."
MB: "Kyle Hallock was legendary. Simply legendary. Coach Strick and I made the decision to remove him from the first game of the tournament to conserve him for later in the tourney. Finishing off EMU was one thing. Starting the championship game 45 minutes later was another. We were hoping to get three innings out of Kyle. He had other plans."
RS: "Words can't describe Kyle Hallock's performance and what he did that day. A warrior to the core. I would sit in a fox hole with him all day, every day and twice on championship day. That was one of the most memorable performances in Kent State history."
JG: "I don't think I have ever seen anyone else give themselves up for the team than Kyle Hallock. You just knew he wasn't going to fail. The curtains draw open and he is always ready to put on his best performance. To sit back and watch your best friend dominate for seven innings will go down as my defining moment for him in his Kent State career."
SS: "Justin Gill always had good stuff. But he was probably our most competitive kid. That play he made was a momentum-killer. He wanted to win more than anyone else."
MB: "No way he should have made that play. It was a give them nothing, take everything from them moment. Golden Flashes pitchers pride themselves on not letting the ball behind them – being more than just a guy throwing a baseball. Justin Gill was the ultimate competitor. He was simply fearless."
JG: "I loved to compete. My best against your best. For four years I wanted to be in the tight spot with your back against the wall and see if my best was better than the hitters standing 60 feet, six inches away. On that play, I threw an 0-2 breaking ball and just reacted. Somehow, I got a glove on it, got to a knee and made the throw. I'm pretty sure it surprised me to come up with that play as everyone else."
KH: "His upbringing is where it starts for me. Justin's parents Roy and Janet did an excellent job raising him. He's a Stark County guy and dudes from there have a natural toughness to them. Everyone on our team learned a lot from Justin Gill. As teammates, we definitely received a clinic on how to compete daily. What everyone saw from him in the tournament is what our offense had to deal with every outing in fall ball, individuals and inside the cages of the field house."
For Gill, the tournament's Most Valuable Player award. For Hallock, two wins in one day. For the Flashes, memories that are still crystal clear even a decade later. Kent State would go on to flirt with history in 2011 and then make it in 2012. But the roots of those successes came from a hard-nosed group that refused to say die. A group that was dealt a bad hand and simply said, so what?
Five straight wins in three days. Two of them in their final at-bat. Three of them come-from-behind victories. All coming with the season and careers on the line. The Golden Flashes rock and rolled on Memorial Day Weekend in 2010. And they went a long way to the top to do it.
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