JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — In the win-or-go-home Game 3 on Day 2 of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League championship tournament, the Lake Norman Copperheads defeated the Carolina Stingers, 9-6. Later, the Tennessee Tornado defeated the Morganton Aggies in Game 4, also 9-6.
In Game 1, the Copperheads took the early advantage with four runs in the first inning off Matthew Large, capped off by a Kevin Roberts RBI triple and a Brian Litwin RBI double, though Neil Hardon threw out Litwin at third base to end the rally and the inning.
Carolina rebounded with a run in the second inning as Hardon drove in Joe Mangum. From there, Large held off Lake Norman in gutsy fashion.
No one would score again until the sixth, when the Stingers sent ten men to the plate in a five-run rally to take the lead, 6-4. Five consecutive singles, including a two-run base hit by Michael Caddell, contributed to the lead and the departure of Lake Norman starter Ryan Overcash. Stephen Mullis added another RBI hit off reliever Patrick Sherrill.
Lake Norman was just as good as their appointed task, however, sending nine of their own to bat for a five-run rally in the bottom of the sixth. Sparked by a solo home run for Tarron Robinson, Roberts singled and Cody Buch doubled, both scoring on a two-run single by Landon Adams. Adams scored on Mike Perkins’s triple in the next at-bat. Perkins came home to score on a passed ball to finalize the inning’s damage and put Lake Norman back on top 9-6. All five runs in the inning were charged to Large, who left the game as Carolina’s pitcher of record against Sherrill.
Down the stretch, bad luck stemmed the Stingers’ rally tide, as a line drive caught at first base by Derek Long turned into a single-handed double play, forcing out Matthew Toth, who had singled to lead off the seventh inning. Then in the eighth, Caddell walked with one out but leaned too early on a steal attempt and found himself picked off by Sherrill and the Copperheads infield. Finally, in the ninth inning, Jason Borjas doubled to keep hopes alive with two outs, but he tried to take third on an errant outfield throw, and Mike Perkins collected the ball and gunned him out at third base to end the game. Sherrill got the win for Lake Norman while Large took the loss for Carolina.
During the last few innings, Game 4 contenders Morganton and Tennessee looked on from the stands, waiting to see who they’d face if they were to lose the nightcap. As Lake Norman won, both teams knew redemption would play into a possible Game 5 rematch — for Morganton, redemption from their win against the Copperheads on Thursday, and for Tennessee, redemption for their two wins on the way to last year’s title.
Neither team wishing to face Lake Norman, both hoping to make another night appearance on Day 3, it was Morganton that struck first, a solo home run in the second inning by Zack Pou to take an early 1-0 lead on Kyle Bolton.
Next, Tennessee took its first big cuts against Jordan Pace, retaliating in their half of the second with a Jean Carlos Diaz RBI triple, followed immediately by an Andrew Jones RBI double. After a hit by Julian McWilliams, Fabian Harper brought out unprecedented power with a soaring two-run double into the right-field corner. He scored on a Steve Scoby base hit to end the rally at six runs, giving Tennessee a 6-1 lead.
From there, the Aggies capitalized on Bolton’s waning control in the third inning as they watched pitch after pitch skip to the backstop, allowing both Tori Conley and Zeke Blanton, who walked consecutively to start the inning, to eventually come around and score — two runs without a single hit in the inning.
On to the sixth, Morganton tied the game in the top, batting nine and again taking advantage of a lead-off walk, as Samson Williams scored on an RBI single for Pou. Pou scored on Brad Hook’s RBI single, and Oliver Killoren singled and scored the final run of the rally later. Had Hook scored, the Aggies would have led the game after the half-inning, but with the bases loaded and one out, Harper played a high chopper by Zeke Blanton and fired a strike to the plate to force Hook out.
As intensity mounted, the tied game moved to the bottom of the sixth inning as starter Jordan Pace tried to control the pace of the game for Morganton. However, the red-hot Andrew Jones, who came to the plate 2-2 after singling in his second at-bat, blasted a solo home run to right field to give the lead back to Tennessee, 7-6.
From there, the Tornado bullpen had to hold on, as Frank Newcomb became their pitcher of record and Pace, though removed in favor of Ricky Vaughn, stood to shoulder the loss. Newcomb got through the seventh with one hit and no runs, and then Sean Albury entered the game. The Nassau, Bahamas, native retired three in order in the eighth, allowing the Tornado another chance to add insurance.
After a leadoff walk to Jay Davis, Brandon Miller came in to pinch run, but he didn’t even have to run — he just trotted — as Andrew Jones came up two batters later and belted his second home run of the night, a two-run shot to deep left-center field, increasing Tennessee’s lead to three runs.
In the ninth, Albury walked Jake Loye to lead off, but then settled down and struck out both Matt Heller and Williams, cutting down the mighty cleanup hitter on a called third strike. Pou was the last hope for the Aggies, coming to the plate 4-4 with three singles since his home run. He laced a line drive toward the right-center field gap, but Diaz tracked it down to retire the side and win the game for Tennessee, 9-6. Newcomb took the win for the Tornado, while Pace got the loss for Morganton.
Today, the Aggies face the Copperheads in Game 5 at 4 p.m., both teams facing the possibility of elimination. At 7 p.m., the winner faces the Tornado for a chance to delay the tournament one more day, while Tennessee tries to repeat as SCBL champions.
Somebody’sw not doing well with the stats. For Morganton Zack Pou had two homers in the game against the Tornados. Get with the program reporters and give total credit!!!!!!!