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MA exits in round one  | Photos by Barry Burleson
Pick-off attempt
Marshall first baseman Jake Omedeo tries to tag out a Hillcrest base runner on a pick-off attempt. |
The baseball season at
Marshall Academy came to an abrupt end as the Patriots fell in the
first round of the MAIS Class AA playoffs to Hillcrest Christian School. Each
game was a nailbiter, with the final scores being 9-7, 2-1 and 4-3.
Neither team was able to win on its home field. Hillcrest advances to
face Manchester this week. MA 9 Hillcrest 7  | Getting the out
Patriot shortstop Tyler Childers throws out a Cougar. |
This
would be a wild affair from the first pitch as the Patriots traveled to
Hillcrest April 20 to start the playoffs. Marshall would be facing Josh
Rogers, a talented left-handed pitcher who will continue his baseball
career at the University of Southern Mississippi next year. The Pats
made the most of their opportunities and came away with a dramatic
come-from-behind 9-7 victory, sparked by Josh Vanderburg’s two-run
homer in the top of the seventh. As the game
began, Parker James led off with a single and promptly stole second
base. He came around to score on Jake Omedeo’s RBI single to
centerfield. Two batters later, John Wesley Ray delivered a two-out
double that scored Tyler Childers and Omedeo. Vanderburg followed and
was credited with an RBI single as he dropped one in front of the right
fielder, scoring Ray. After its first at bat, MA led 4-0. Hillcrest
answered right back off Patriot starting pitcher Will Patton (9-1) with
four of its own. After one, the scored was knotted at 4. In
the second, Elgin Lafever reached first on an error and scored on Jake
Omedeo’s towering drive to the fence in centerfield. Omedeo ended up
with a triple and scored when Joey Omedeo reached on another Cougar
error. Hillcrest again matched the Patriots with
two in the bottom of the second and when the dust had cleared, the
score was 6-6 after two innings. Both pitchers
settled in and began controlling the batters to start the third inning.
Rogers struck out 11 of the next 12 batters he faced. Patton retired
six of seven Hillcrest batters after the second inning but ran into
trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Caleb Baucum crushed a lead-off
double to deep center field followed by Austin Hartzog’s infield
single. After Hartzog stole second, designated hitter Thomas Woodruff
laid down a textbook bunt to score Baucum and give Hillcrest its first
lead of the game at 7-6. Patton controlled the damage as the senior
struck out two batters to end the inning. The
game would remain in the Cougars’ favor until the top of the seventh.
Jake Omedeo drew a walk to start the inning. Sophomore Andy Burleson
replaced Omedeo as a pinch runner at first base and a well-executed
bunt from Joey Omedeo moved Burleson into scoring position at second. A
third strike pitch to Ray was dropped by the Hillcrest catcher and the
freshman’s throw to first base was high and rolled into right field,
scoring Burleson from second base to tie the game at 7-7. Up stepped
Vanderburg, a junior, who nailed the first pitch over the right field
wall for a dramatic two-run blast to give Marshall a 9-7 lead. Patton
finished the game by striking out the side and ending any hopes
Hillcrest had of rallying. He would finish with 14 strikeouts. “That
was an incredible game,” coach Johnny Ray said. “It just shows you the
determination that these kids have. Will battled and battled all game
long. He has matured so much on the mound. Josh’s homer was clutch. It
couldn’t have come at a better time. I am so proud for him because he
works so hard.” Hillcrest 2 MA 1 Returning
home and facing another talented Division 1 signee, Marshall would give
opposing pitcher Hartzog all he wanted, but the Ole Miss signee got the
breaks when needed and escaped with a 2-1 win to force a game three. Marshall
got on the board in the second as Jake Omedeo walked and advance to
second on a wild pitch. Joey Omedeo delivered a single into right field
placing runners at the corners. Hartzog struck the next two batters out
but freshman Aaron McAlexander delivered an infield single to push a
run across.  | Photo by Barry Burleson
All-star
Parker James pitches for the Patriots in game two of the series. The senior will play in the state all-star game May 29. |
James was masterful on the mound for
MA. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and kept the Cougars
off the scoreboard until the sixth. Three Patriot miscues allowed
Rogers to score the tying run in the sixth and another error allowed
the winning run to score with two out in the top of the seventh. Leading
off the bottom of the seventh, Vanderburg drew a walk and was
sacrificed to second by Ray. As Vanderburg reached second he realized
no Cougar defender was at third so he advanced. Recognizing the base
runner headed toward third, several Cougars converged on the bag. First
baseman Baucum, who was in possession of the ball, tossed it to a back
peddling Hartzog as Vanderburg approached the bag. The ball squirted
away and Vanderburg never slowed down, rounding third looking to tie
the score. The umpire, rotating to make the impending call at the bag,
inadvertently collided with Vanderburg, who stumbled but continued
toward the plate. Hartzog recovered the ball and threw a strike to
Rogers at the plate who applied the tag to the sliding Vanderburg. It
was pure chaos. “What an unfortunate turn of
events,” Coach Ray said. “How do you penalize a kid that hustles and
gives you everything he has? That was just a crazy play that you can
not prepare for. The ball just bounced their way.” James
(6-2) suffered the loss on the mound but turned in a gutsy performance.
He struck out four, walked three and scattered three hits. “In
my opinion Parker out-pitched the hyped Division 1 signee,” Coach Ray
said. “He pitched on heart and desire and gave us an opportunity to
win.” Hartzog struck out 11 and surrendered four hits, two coming off the bat of McAlexander. Hillcrest 4 MA 3 Marshall
looked to rebound from the heart-breaking loss in the opener came out
flat and eventually saw their season end with a 4-3 loss to the Cougars. Marshall
trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third. The Pats loaded the
bases with no outs as McAlexander had singled to start the frame, Caleb
Byrd followed with a walk and James reached on an error. But, as had
been the case all day, HCS got the breaks when needed. Baucum, the
pitcher, field a grond ball and started the 1-2-3 double play. Marshall
would settle for one run as Byrd scored later in the inning. “Everything seemed to be in our favor in that situation and then Hillcrest got the double play,” Coach Ray said. Finding
themselves trailing 4-1 heading into their final at bat, the Patriots
mounted a rally. Byrd reached on error and scored two batters later on
Lafever’s single to left field. After a walk to Childers put the tying
run on base, another Cougar error off the bat of Jake Omedeo allowed
Lafever to score and place runners at first and second. But, a ground
ball out ended the game and the season. Joey Brock went the distance on the mound for the Patriots, striking out four. “This
was a great season and a great group of kids to work with,” Coach Ray
said. “They improved so much over the course of the season and gave me
everything they had. They kept their minds on the tasks at hand and
didn’t let outside distractions bother them” The Patriots end the season at 27-7, tying the school record for wins in a season. James
was named District 1-AA Most Valuable Player and is guaranteed a spot
in the MAIS All-Star Game to be held at Trustmark Park in Pearl on
Saturday May 29. The senior finished with a team-leading .402 batting
average was successful in 24 of 25 stolen base attempts. He was also
6-2 on the mound with a 1.30 earned run average. He struck out 57
batters in 48 1/3 innings pitched on the season, issuing only 16 walks. “Parker
deserves every accolade he gets,” Coach Ray said. “Coaching players
like him is very enjoyable. He may not be the most talented kid but at
the end of the day you know that he has put everything he has into it.
That makes it worth to me as a coach.” |
