As the top of the seventh dragged on, Presbyterian Christian’s chance to return to the state championship seemed to be slipping away.
Yet behind the defensive heroics of catcher Kade Welford, the Bobcats held off a three-run rally in the top of the seventh by Madison-Ridgeland Academy to secure a 7-6 win and a return trip back to the MAIS Class 6A State Championship on Thursday night.
“Being able to play for the title is something that we want to expect at the same time we know it’s tough to do,” PCS coach Jarrett Hoffpauir said. “To be honest, it’s a lot like last year. We are starting to play really well at the right time, and we are starting to gel. We’re definitely excited for the opportunity.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Welford made an incredible snag to stop a pitch from getting past him and threw MRA’s lead runner out at third base to end the game.
“Kade Welford made an unbelievable block,” Hoffpauir said. “The guy at third thought it was getting by him, and he got too far off, and Kade ran him down and got him at third to end the game.
“It was a curveball almost in the left-handed batter’s box. He slid and almost kind of dove for it. He didn’t even block it. He caught it. The guy thought it got by him. It was wild. They had momentum, and things were kind of trending their way. He played great all night. I don’t know how many blocks he had in a lot of crucial opportunities."
Prior to the dramatic final out, the two teams traded runs early on. In the first inning, the Patriots scored their first run on a wild pitch, and the Bobcats got on the board with an RBI double from Jet Henderson. Welford then drove in a run with a sac fly in the second inning, MRA (20-14) put up two more runs in the top of the third to take a 3-2 lead.
However, PCS (22-13) pushed ahead with an RBI double in the bottom of the frame, and then added two more runs in the fourth after Henderson drove in a run with a sac fly and Aaron Alston hit an RBI double. Later in the sixth inning, Alston drove in a run with a sac bunt, and Bankston Walters capped the Bobcats’ scoring with an RBI single.
On the mound, PCS’ starting pitcher Tyner Flynt ran out of gas after he got the first out in the seventh inning. Flynt notably allowed two earned runs, five hits, five walks and 11 strikeouts before the Bobcats’ bullpen took over.
“He got off to a little bit of a slow start,” Hoffpauir said. “He got his pitch count up a little bit early. After the game, I commended him on how gutsy that game was. He didn’t have his best stuff on the mound tonight, but he had it mentally and fought through it. He made some big pitches in some really big situations.
“It seems like everybody is playing for each other, and that’s what good teams do. I think we are finally starting to gel. It’s a good time to be doing it.”
PCS will face Hartfield Academy in the state championship next week.
“They have got two really good arms,” Hoffpauir said. “They swing the bats well. It’s going to be a tough challenge for us. We really expect it to be a lot like the semifinals last year when we had them and it came down to the last play of the game in Game 3. We feel like it’s probably going to be like that again. We’ll have to play really well, and we expect to, but we are excited about it.”
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