MUSKEGON — Montague alum and Muskegon Clippers left fielder Nick Moss didn't start Friday night's potential playoff clincher against the Michigan Monarchs because he'd started seven of the previous nine games and coach Brian Wright wanted to make sure everyone was getting on the field. That didn't stop Moss from making his mark on the game.
Moss came off the bench as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and drew a walk, then advanced to second on a pitch in the dirt. He ultimately scored the winning run in the Clippers' 2-0 win, which combined with a loss by the Flag City Sluggers secured a playoff spot for the Clippers.
The Clippers earned the No. 2 seed in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League's North Division with a 22-19 overall record and faced the top seed Lima Locos, who won the division at 31-11, in a best-of-3 series. Game one was at Marsh Field Tuesday, and the Clippers romped 17-5 as Moss hit his first home run of the season. Lima responded by defeating the Clippers 9-1 Wednesday, setting up a decisive game three in Lima Thursday after the Mirror went to press.
In Friday's game, Moss scored when fellow West Michigan Conference alum Ben Meyers (North Muskegon) hit a hard ground ball to shortstop. Monarchs shortstop Ryan Metz made a nice stop of Meyers' ground ball, but fthe irst baseman was unable to field the throw, and both hustling runners scored. That was all the run support relief pitcher Sam Briggs would need, as he mowed down the Monarchs in the ninth inning.
Nick's dad, Montague coach Jeff Moss, filled in on the Clippers' staff in July when another assistant coach, Tim Simon, was gone on a vacation. When Simon returned, Wright invited Moss to stay on the rest of the way to spend time with his son. As Coach Moss noted, Nick is entering his senior year and this is likely the last summer of baseball he'll get with Nick. He appreciated the opportunity to soak it in.
"I'm just helping Brian out and helping the team out to do what I can do and getting ready for the games," Moss said. "It's been great for me. I love it.
"These kids are awesome, man. I've gotten to know quite a few of them, and they're just ballers. It's fun to be around. High school baseball is fun, and when you get around college athletes, it's a whole different world."
Coach Moss and the rest of the staff made sure Nick knew to be ready for when his opportunity came in the late innings Friday, and in the eighth it arrived when he pinch hit for designated hitter Zane Wilson.
"We talked about it the whole game, just to be prepared because they were talking about using him at some point in this game," coach Moss said. "He had started seven of nine (games) and we gave some (other) guys opportunities today. We just said, 'Be ready when you get out there and take advantage of it.'"
Like Wilson, who drew two walks in his own right, Moss worked a walk. Drake Roa also walked, and Kaden Howard's squibber of a groundout to the right side of the infield allowed both to move up a base, bringing Meyers up with two outs for the pivotal ground ball.
Both Clipper runs scoring without benefit of a hit was on brand for the game; neither team got any hits until Taylor Head ripped a double for the Clippers in the bottom of the seventh inning, and each team only had one for the game. It was a pitchers' duel much of the night between the Clippers' Brady Young and Monarchs' Casey Robertson.
"We weren't talking about it in the dugout at all," Moss chuckled. "I just kept preaching to the guys...Something's got to happen in a game like that. We thought the pitching was going to be going all the way. I said, somebody's got to make a mistake to get a win here. They made a mistake, and we capitalized on it."
Young in fact still had a no-hitter going when he left the game mid at-bat in the seventh inning; coach Brian Wright said Young felt some numbness in his hand and had thrown 90 pitches by that point anyway, so the team exercised caution. Briggs entered with a 2-0 count on the batter Young had been facing and picked up a strikeout to end the inning. He dominated from there, giving up one hit in the eighth but firing 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief to get the win.
"The plan was that Sam was coming in behind him," Moss said. "Sam's like that. He's just a dog. He was on fire. The bullpen people down there had him fired up before he went in the game, and this place was packed tonight. He had a lot of motion behind his fastball tonight. He was showing 90 or 92 (miles per hour), came in and (dominated), and I don't think they touched him."
As the playoffs approached, Nick Moss was set to keep his knack for starting rallies going. He's quickly become a fan and team favorite.
"Nick's famous for that, starting a rally," coach Moss said. "He's the spark plug here for us, so they love him here."
