The "Cardiac Trojans" strike again! Over the past few weeks of the regular season and the start of the post season, Magee had to prove they could win a number of ways, including coming from behind against the likes of Mendenhall and Winona to win some late thrillers.
Last Thursday's second round opener took the cake on heart stopping comeback victories on the season thus far, as a walk-off single by Seth Russell catapulted Magee over the Columbia Wildcats in a 7th inning for the ages.
The game had everything a baseball fan could want: good pitching, drama, sparks between teams, and some big time clutch hitting by both teams. Magee was just lucky enough that the clock didn't strike 12 before the magic ran out on their epic comeback and that Columbia inexplicably did not change pitchers after serving up four consecutive hits and a walk to start the bottom of the 7th before Russell could play the role of Cinderella.
The story of the game was almost told by the extremely high number of walks issued by the Magee pitching staff. Trojan starter Luke West's pitch count, which ended at 119, was run up early due to some questionable balls and strikes (or the lack there of) calls by the home plate umpire who squeezed Magee pitchers all night. West finished the night with his usual high strike out total (6 Ks), but an almost equally high walk total (5 BB). Russell served only 1/3 of an inning and walked four Columbia batters, and Adam May walked one. On the flip side, Wildcat pitchers Landon Sanders and Aiden Singley walked only one apiece. It was clear to those in the stands and in the dugout that Magee was getting the raw end of some questionable calls behind the dish.
Luckily, the story of the game turned from a tale of how walks doomed the Trojans to triumphant story of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat thanks to some late game heroics and a gutsy performance after a shaky start by West to keep Magee in the game.
In the first, West found himself in a rare hole early. West got to a 2-2 count against a Columbia hitter before giving up a bases loaded walk to Grady Lucas to give the Cats a 2-0 lead. West refocused and got out of the inning as he got Eli Johnson to ground into a fielder's choice to escape further damage. The top of the second, West started to shake loose the first inning cobwebs as he threw only 16 pitches in the inning compared to 40 pitches needed to get through the first. In the bottom of the third, Magee needed a spark to jump start their offense. All season long, Mason Booth has shown a flare for timely hitting, and he came through again with a single on the first pitch of the third to give Magee their first leadoff base runner of the game. Josh Sanders came in to take over the running duties for Booth before Bridges popped out to third. On the first pitch of Zack Teater's at-bat, J. Sanders scooted down to second to get into scoring position with one out before advancing to third on a Teater single. Chandler Pittman provided the first RBI of the game for Magee as he drove a sac-fly to right that was deep enough to score J. Sanders and move Teater to third after he advanced to second on a wild pitch earlier in the AB. Another Trojan with a clutch bone is senior Timon Kennedy, who came up with an RBI single to center to even the score at two. Brennon McNair grounded out to L. Sanders to end the inning, but Magee retook control of the momentum in the game as they worked a two run second to tie the game.
After the Trojan offense picked up some much needed run support for West, he returned the favor by pitching a scoreless top of the fourth. Magee's bats woke up in the third and continued to let their presence be known in the fourth. Russell got the inning off to a good start by catching the Cats napping, ambushing them with a first pitch bunt single down the third base line. Russell continued his impressive inning offensively on the base paths as he advanced from first to third on a wild pitch during May's AB, that got lost behind the plate by Lucas. May went on to draw a walk to put runners on the corners for Landon Hayes. May moved himself into scoring position by swiping second on the second pitch of Hayes' AB. Hayes sent a sac-fly to center deep enough to score Russell from third, but the throw in was cut off to keep May at second. This would prove important as Booth grounded out to first and Bridges popped out in foul territory to end the inning. In the fifth, West continued to show what made him the ace of a very good Trojans starting rotation as he breezed through the Columbia half of the inning. McNair started to home half of the fifth with a single to center. Russell followed with a grounder to third that looked like it would be a routine play for Carver, but the throw got away from him, sending L. Sanders into Russell's path as he barreled down the line, allowing McNair to score to give Magee a 4-2 lead. Magee entered the top of the seventh with a 4-2 lead and West on cruise control. The only problem was that his pitch count was nearing the 120 limit for high school pitchers. West struck out the first batter of the seventh to put the Cats down to their final two outs. Columbia proved that cats really do have nine lives as they used all of them in this inning. West was removed from the game after 119 pitches following Morgan reaching base via an error by Russell. Russell was brought in to get the final two outs of the game for the Trojans, but Columbia was not going quietly. Russell walked Carver and Moses back to back to load the bases. Josh Sanders had entered the game defensively for Magee after West came out and May moved to third to replace Russell who came in to pitch. There's an old saying that the baseball will always find the new guy in the field, especially in a dire situation. This was the case as L. Sanders sent what appeared to be a tailor-made double play to end the game to J. Sanders at second. A late bounce got up on J. Sanders and forced him to go to first with his throw where Hayes made a stretch for the ball but was unable to come up with the throw. Two Columbia runners crossed the plate to tie the game as L. Sanders coasted to second. Russell walked Singley to load the bases and give Magee a force at every base, unfortunately Russell walked the next batter to give the Wildcats their first lead since early in the game. Magee made a pitching change as they brought in May to try to hold the deficit at one. May struck out Lucas to get the second out off the inning with the bases still full. Johnson worked another bases loaded walk to score another run and increase the lead to two runs. May then hit Clay Powell with a pitch to plate the fifth run of the inning for the Wildcats before striking out Morgan to leave the deficit at three. Rallies often start with the most unlikely of igniters, for Magee Bridges was the spark that struck the match on the powder keg that lit up Columbia in the bottom half of the seventh. Bridges sent the first pitch of the inning up the middle for a hard single to get things started. Teater followed up with a slow roller to Wildcat shortstop Moses who opted to go the short way to second in attempt to get the lead runner. Luckily for Magee, Bridges had on his PF-Flyers as he beat out the throw to second to put even more pressure on the Columbia defense. Pittman loaded up the basses as he hustled through a grounder to third for an infield single. Enter the man the team refers to as "Big Daddy Long Stroke," Timon Kennedy. Kennedy roped a laser down the left field line, just barely over the outstretched glove of Carver at third to score Bridges and Teater to shrink the lead to 7-6 with no outs. For some reason, Columbia did not pull Singley who had seen the lead all but evaporate in what seemed like no time. Singley served up four straight hits to start the bottom of the seventh before walking McNair to load the bases and give a force at every base. With the infield drawn in, Russell stepped to the plate. Kaden Harper was called upon to run for Kennedy at second, representing the game winning run. Russell sent a hard chopper to the left of third baseman Carver that took a Magee bounce up and over the head of Moses at short who was unable to bring the ball in off his glove as it bounce toward the right field line. Pittman scored easily from third as Harper was waved home as the Magee team piled out of the dugout to greet the Freshman as he crossed the plate to win the game before swarming Russell in the infield. The win showed a great deal of grit and determination mixed with a lot of resilience and moxie from the Trojans who road the momentum to another thrilling win, 17-7, to sweep Columbia out of the playoffs. After the game, something amazing happened as both teams put aside the hard feelings from the game to meet in prayer and devotion at home plate where Eli Johnson of Columbia led a powerful testimony about lose in sports versus the greater losses one faces in life. The two teams prayed, hugged, shook hands, and went their separate ways. This was a true sign of sportsmanship and the reason baseball is such an amazing sport.
Magee host Southeast Lauderdale Thursday at 6:00 for game one of the third round. Game two will away Friday at 6:00, game three if needed will be home at 2:00 on Saturday.
