LUMBERTON – As the seventh inning began, Sacred Heart found itself three outs and four runs away from falling under .500 in region play against Lumberton.
But that’s when a battle of bullpens went decidedly in favor of the Crusaders, who savaged the Panthers with a four-run seventh inning rally, and a 10-run eighth to take an 18-8 victory Tuesday night in a key clash of Region 8-1A rivals at the Carl Hancock Sports Complex.
Sacred Heart improved to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in region play. Lumberton dropped to 11-4 and 3-2.
“It really was a game of momentum,” said Sacred Heart coach Larry Watkins. “We were down four in the last inning, but our guys didn’t quit. Then we got into their bullpen, and I was happy with the way we got some big hits.”
This was a see-saw contest that had the Crusaders with the early momentum, but Lumberton came back in the middle innings to seize the lead with a big inning of its own, and took an 8-4 lead into the seventh inning.
“It was one of those things where for six and a half innings we had the game won, but it’s a seven-inning ball game,” said Lumberton coach Lance Hendrix. “You’ve got to get 21 outs, and that’s what we’ve been talking to them about.
“Your effort and your focus has to stay there for 21 outs, and we had it for 18.”
Each team got its leadoff batter on in the first inning, and both teams got the run home.
Senior Kyron Murphy smacked the first pitch of the night from Panther senior right-hander Keith Smith into leftfield for a single. Murphy stole second and scored on a one-out double by senior Darren Brown.
“Earlier in the season, we started kind of slow at the plate, but everybody had to fix their approach when they’re coming up there swinging the bat,” said Brown. “We got up early, then they came back.
“But we stuck to what we knew, what our coaches taught us, and we just rallied back.”
Smith got a pair of strikeouts to avoid further trouble, and his team promptly evened the score in the bottom of the inning.
Junior Urijah Spinner reached on an infield error on Murphy’s first pitch in the inning, he took second on a hit-and-run groundout to shortstop and scored on a single from senior Kaydon Graham into rightfield with two out.
Sacred Heart regained the lead in the top of the second, when sophomore Jameson Phillips smoked the first pitch he saw to the wall in right-centerfield for a leadoff double. He went to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by junior Marshall Green.
Senior Jackson Gamber blooped a single, senior Foxx Reid moved the runners over with a sacrifice, and Green made it 3-1 on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Murphy.
But Smith settled in, retiring the Crusaders in order in the third and fourth innings, by which time the game was tied again after Lumberton scored two more unearned runs in the bottom of the third.
Murphy got two quick outs to start the inning, but suddenly ran into control issues, sandwiching a hit batter with a pair of walks to load the bases, and two runs came home on a booted grounder in the infield.
“I’ve told the guys all along that we’ve got a chance to be real good,” said Watkins. “You can learn a lot from a game like this, about the character of your team. Hopefully, we can come back out Friday night a play a little cleaner game.”
Murphy got Sacred Heart back in the lead in the top of the fifth, going the other way to crack a one-out double inside the rightfield line. He went to third on a slow roller to shortstop and scored on Brown’s single up the middle.
However, the bottom of the fifth was where Lumberton appeared to take control of the game, scoring five runs on two hits, three walks and a big two-run error.
Crawford drew a leadoff walk and Morrison smacked the next pitch into the leftfield corner for a double, sending Crawford to third. A four-pitch walk followed to load the bases, and that’s when Watkins made the slow walk to change pitchers.
He opted for Reid to come in from shortstop, and the senior right-hander was shaky at the beginning, giving up a run-scoring walk to tie the game at 4-4.
Lumberton senior Hunner Long tapped a slow roller just past the mound, and Reid’s only play was to the plate for the force, and he threw wide, allowing two runs to come in and putting runners at second and third.
But Reid seemed to settle in, getting a pair of strikeouts, around an RBI bunt single off the bat of senior Kolton Fairchild. However, another strikeout finally got the Crusaders back to the dugout.
“Coming in bases loaded no outs, it’s tough to get out of,” said Reid. “But I just went out there to try and throw strikes. We made a few errors in the field, but we bounced back.
“After that first inning, I began to figure it out. I started to settle in a lot, started spotting up my pitches and getting my fastball over for strikes.”
It might not have mattered, the way Smith seemed to be going. The big senior right-hander scattered seven hits, struck out 10 and walked three.
“We can’t blame it all on the bullpen,” said Hendrix. “This is two years in a row against them that our starter hasn’t been able to finish the game. I mean, he came out in the seventh and walked two batters, then he got to pitch No. 118.
“We wanted him to get one or two outs before we went to the bullpen, but he got up in the count and we had to go to the pen, and you saw what happened.”
But two of Smith’s three walks came in the top of the seventh, and with one out, he came up on the pitch limit and had to come out of the game.
“His change-up as quick and jumpy, slider was very tight and had a late break,” said Brown on Smith. “We just tried to jump the fastball and do something with that.
“A guy like that, it gets later in the game, low score with not many pitches thrown, we had to make an adjustment and get him out of the game, get somebody in we can handle.”
Sophomore Brennan Watters came on in relief and he immediately walked the first batter he faced, setting the table for Brown to drive in two runs with a single up the middle.
Watters got a strikeout for the second out, but another walk loaded the bases, and Phillips followed with a towering double to centerfield to score two runs, although a potential third go-ahead run was cut down at the plate.
And once he got settled in, Reid (2-1) was effective, pitching around a two-out double in the sixth, then retiring the Panthers in order in the bottom of the seventh. He finished with six strikeouts, allowed just two hits and no walks.
When he went back out for the bottom of the eighth, it was all over but the counting.
The Crusaders sent 15 batters to the plate, rapped out eight hits, earned three walks, and did most of their damage before anyone was out.
Murphy had an RBI single, sophomore Colter Garner had a run-scoring single and later had a two-run double, Brown drove in two runs with a single – giving him six RBIs in a 4 for 4 night – and Phillips had his third double of the game.
“Their first pitcher was really good, and he had good stuff,” said Watkins. “He had a quick fastball, and a good breaking pitch. But we got him up in the pitch count, and that goes back to battling at the plate and being aggressive.”
Lumberton got a one out single by Spinner in the bottom of the eighth, but after committing three errors earlier, the Crusaders finished the game with a 6-4-3 double play.
The two teams will play the return game at 7 p.m. Friday at Hattiesburg, but Hendrix says his team will have to flush this loss and get ready to even the series.
“That’s the thing about baseball, you don’t have to wait a whole week, seven days, to get out and do it again,” said Hendrix. “In a couple of days, we’re going to see the same bunch at their place. We’ve got to learn from this game, take what we can from it and get better.”
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