PEARL – Ty Long, as they say, was the real deal.
The senior right-hander for Ripley showed why he was selected as Mr. Baseball for Class 4A Tuesday afternoon in a dominating performance, as the Tigers knocked off Sumrall 5-0 in Game 1 of the Class 4A State Championship Series at Trustmark Park.
If the Bobcats (32-5) are to capture their seventh state title, they’ll have to win Game 2, scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday, to force a deciding third game either Friday or Saturday.
The Southern Miss signee baffled Sumrall to the tune of 18 strikeouts, in under 100 pitches. But Davis wasn’t sure all of those strikeouts were on true strikes.
“He was good, but when the umpire’s giving him a foot outside, he’s going to take advantage of that,” said Sumrall coach Andy Davis. “Then, on their big hit, we had him struck out on an 0-2 pitch and he didn’t call it.
“You go to a state championship game, you expect state championship umpires. But I take my hat off to (Long). He’s a great pitcher and he’s always right around the plate.”
The Bobcats only had three hits, two of which were infield singles, and Long hit one batter. Other than foul balls down the lines, Sumrall only got three balls out of the infield all day.
And Long (13-0) was indiscriminate about his strikeouts. Every player in the Sumrall batting order struck out at least once, five struck out twice and two others struck out three times.
“He was throwing a fastball, a slider and a 12-6 (curveball),” said senior Cade Clinton, who had the only solid base hit for Sumrall. “I think we went up there guessing too much, and we don’t need to be doing that. We’re a good enough team we shouldn’t be guessing.”
Freshman Drew Davis matched Long through the first two innings, as both pitchers put up zeroes despite allowing baserunners in both innings.
Long, who is also batting over .500, smacked the first pitch of the game into centerfield for a leadoff single, but one ground ball eliminated the runner and a double-play got Davis to the dugout.
With two out in the bottom of the first, Clinton singled into center, but Long got a strikeout to avoid further trouble.
The Tigers got a leadoff single in the second, and a sacrifice moved the runner over. Davis surrendered a hit batter, but got a strikeout and groundout to keep it scoreless. Then Long hit a batter leading off the bottom of the second, but nothing came of it for Sumrall.
But in the top of the third, a two-out rally netted Ripley the only run it would need.
Davis got two quick outs before giving up a walk, then Tiger senior Cooper Davis worked the count full before crushing a ball to the fence in left-centerfield, scoring the runner easily.
“I thought I had a third strike called on 0-2 and he didn’t call it,” said Davis. “That’s the game. It is what it is. You just have to deal with it. Now we just have to win, and finish.”
Davis (8-3) got through the next three innings unscathed, giving up a one-out single in the fourth, and a walk and single after two were out in both the fifth and sixth.
He was lifted after the sixth with 93 pitches. He gave up a run on six hits, struck out four, walked three and hit one.
“I thought I had pretty good stuff tonight,” said Drew Davis. “Of course, we’ve got to pick it up with the bats, but to keep it 1-0, that was pretty good.”
But Davis got zero offensive support. The Bobcats got a leadoff single in the bottom of the third when senior Malik McNair beat out a ground ball to shortstop.
However, Long routinely shrugged that off by getting three strikeouts, the first three of 13 straight batters he retired.
“He’s a great pitcher, 4A player of the year,” said Andy Davis. “But it looked like we were scared to death going up there against him.”
Sumrall finally cracked under the pressure in the top of the seventh, when the Tigers scored four insurance runs off junior right-hander Jack Miller, capped by a two-run triple from junior Jack Reid.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Drew Davis hit a slow roller down the third base line that stayed fair for an infield single. But once again Long was too much, getting the last two outs on strikeouts.
“Thursday, we need to trust ourselves, trust our bats and trust our arms,” said Clinton. “We’ll be fine.”
The schedule for Game 3 depends on what happens with other games earlier Thursday.
In the early games Tuesday, East Union defeated St. Andrew’s 5-0 in the Class 2A finals, and East Webster rallied past West Marion 12-6 in Class 3A. The late game featured Brandon against Hernando in the Class 7A finals
If the Urchins and Wolverines both complete their sweeps, then Game 3 of the 4A series would be at 10 a.m. Friday. Otherwise, it would be Saturday, and that would be significant, since Long would be eligible to pitch for Ripley on Saturday, but not Friday.
But first things first. Sumrall will send out senior right-hander Leo Odom out to save its season on Thursday.
“We’ve just got to regroup, cut down on the strikeouts,” said Andy Davis. “Obviously, (Long) will not be throwing Thursday, so it’ll be a different ball game.”
