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Bobcats strike first against Red Bay with walk-off win

PHIL CAMPBELL - Toward the end of Tuesday’s Class 2A, Area 14 opener between Red Bay and Phil Campbell at the Roger Bedford Sportsplex, someone in the home dugout reminded Bobcat coach Jonathan Raper that his team would have its 7-8-9 batters due up in the bottom of the seventh.

Trailing the Tigers 2-1 and in danger of watching a dominant outing by ace pitcher Peyton Thomas go for naught, Raper had a different number in mind—21, as in the number of outs each team is afforded in a given game to do with what they can. Phil Campbell still had three outs remaining, and Raper knows his veteran team well enough to know that three outs is more than enough for the Bobcats to turn a defeat into a dog pile.

“These guys never quit,” he said. “They believe in each other. We’ve won a bunch of games in the fifth inning, the sixth inning, even the seventh. It doesn’t matter where we are in the lineup. We’ve got guys one through nine who can come through with a big hit or a good at bat when we need one.”

Junior catcher Joe Hardy led off the bottom of the seventh with a groundball to short, and Hayden Murray’s throw was off the mark just enough to pull first basemen Landen Burgett away from the bag. Burgett was able to tag a hustling Hardy for what would have been the first out, but the ball popped out of his mitt, and the tying run was aboard.

The next batter, Mike Wrona, dropped down a sacrifice bunt that Red Bay reliever Chandler Allen fielded a few feet in front of the mound. Allen might have had a play on courtesy runner Daniel Smith at second, but he couldn’t get the ball out of his glove cleanly and settled for the out at first.

Number nine batter Nick Taylor, who had walked and singled in his first two plate appearances, battled through an eight-pitch at bat and drew another walk to put runners at first and second. Next up was leadoff man Hayden Copeland, the first batter Allen had faced upon relieving Burgett with one out and a runner at second in the bottom of the fifth. Allen, a senior left-hander and a Blue Mountain College signee, had retired Copeland—also a senior lefty—on a comebacker in the fifth, ultimately preserving the Tigers’ 1-0 lead.

Up again in the seventh with the game hanging in the balance, Copeland worked the count full and then smacked a fastball from Allen down the left-field line for a clutch base hit. Smith scored easily from second, tying the game 2-2. The ball somehow sneaked by left-fielder Max Bullen (whose two-out RBI single off Thomas had put the Tigers on top just half an inning earlier), and Taylor raced all the way around from first, beating the relay throw to the plate to give Phil Campbell a thrilling 3-2 win.

Cue the dog pile.

“I’ve been struggling lately, so it felt good to come through with a big hit in a big area game,” said Copeland, whose teammates mobbed him in the middle of the diamond following his game-winner. “Both those guys [Red Bay] threw today are really good pitchers. [Allen] threw me a fastball on three-two, and I was able to get the barrel on it and put it in play.”

Off the bat, it appeared Copeland’s fly ball—which landed just a few feet inside the left-field foul line—might slice foul, but he knew better.

“Nah, I’ve done that enough that I knew it was gonna stay fair,” he said. “I like to hit the ball the other way. I’m not really a pull hitter.”

Copeland’s clutch knock gave the Bobcats (11-5, 1-0) a third straight win and a jump on Red Bay (9-8, 0-1) in the Area 14 race. It also made a winner out of Thomas (3-0), who finished with a season-high 13 strikeouts and did not issue a walk in his seven innings of work.

“He was awesome,” said Copeland, who transferred to Phil Campbell from Phillips High School prior to his sophomore year. “He’s done that since I’ve been here.”

Thomas, a junior right-hander, was sharp from the outset on Tuesday, striking out six of the first seven batters he faced—three on fastballs and three on curveballs.

“Peyton was really good today,” Raper said. “He did a good job with his curveball. Our guys really believe in him when he’s on the mound. I always feel like if we can get two, three, four runs for him, we’re gonna win the game.”

Two wasn’t going to be enough on Tuesday, not after Red Bay broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh. Burgett, who had two of the Tigers’ six hits off Thomas, led off the inning with a single to right. Thomas struck out the next two batters, but courtesy runner Levi McNatt stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.

Bullen, who had bunted for a hit and scored the Tigers’ first run back in the third inning, blooped a first-pitch fastball into shallow right, chasing home McNatt and giving Red Bay a 2-1 lead.

Thomas—who threw 112 pitches on the evening—recovered to get leadoff man Kaleb Burroughs looking at strike three, striking out the side for the third time. He was headed for a tough-luck loss, however, unless the Bobcats (who had mustered just two hits all game and had failed to take advantage of six walks, stranding six runners through the first six innings) could rally in their final at bat.

Raper wasn’t worried.

“We always seem to have that one inning,” he said. “Today it was the seventh inning. Joe hit the ball hard and hustled down the line, just found a way to get on base. Then we got a bunt down, which was big, and Copeland came through for us with a big hit.

“We’re not exactly busting the baseball right now, but we’ve got nine guys in the lineup that are capable of getting the job done.”

After Thomas and Burgett, a senior lefty and a Bevill State signee, matched zeroes through the first two innings, Red Bay scratched out the first run of the game with a little small ball in the top of the third. Bullen dropped a beauty of a bunt down the third-base line for a one-out hit and then stole second. He moved to third on a ball in the dirt and then raced home when Burroughs pushed another bunt hit to the right side of the infield.

Blake Hester grounded into a force play for the second out, but courtesy runner Cade McKinney swiped second and then moved to third when Murray reached on a throwing error. When Murray broke for second on the first pitch to Allen, Hardy came up firing from behind the plate and threw in behind McKinney at third, picking him off to end the threat and keep it a 1-0 game.

Hardy showed off his quick release and strong arm again in the top of the fifth, back-handing a ball in the dirt and thwarting a steal attempt by Burroughs with a perfect strike to second base.

“Joe made a couple of big plays for us, two really good throws,” Raper said. “He worked hard behind the plate, too, especially with all the curveballs Peyton was throwing today. With Peyton on the mound trying to get guys to chase those curveballs in the dirt, you know whoever’s behind the plate is having to work their rear end off.

“Joe was kind of the unsung hero for us.”

Red Bay was still leading 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Taylor lined a pitch from Burgett into left for a base hit and then advanced to second on an error by Bullen. That’s when Red Bay coach Richard Maggerise made the decision to lift Burgett, who had thrown 83 pitches, for Allen, who quickly retired Copeland and Brody Nix to end the inning.

Burgett allowed two hits in 4.1 scoreless innings, striking out three and walking four. Phil Campbell tied the game with an unearned run off Allen in the bottom of the sixth. Thomas drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Following a one-out walk to Nick Swinney, Thomas stole third and then scored the tying run when Hester’s throw from behind the plate sailed high and into left field.

Swinney, running from first on the play, slipped down when he tried to hit the brakes between third and home and was tagged for the second out. Allen then struck out Colby Baker to end the inning and set the stage for the decisive seventh.

Allen allowed three runs (just one earned) on one hit in two innings, striking out two and walking three. He threw 48 pitches, meaning he will be available on the mound when the series resumes on Thursday at Red Bay. Burgett and Bullen both went 2-for-3, and Burroughs and Allen had one hit apiece.

Copeland, Taylor and Gage Roberson each had a hit for the Bobcats, who will try to improve to 2-0 in area play with a win in Thursday's first game at Red Bay. If the Tigers take game two, then the third game will serve as a tie-breaker should the two teams end up even in the final area standings.

“It’ll be another dogfight,” Raper said. “That’s the way it is every time we play these guys. Both teams feel pretty good about their pitching, so it’ll come down to whoever makes the least mistakes and comes up with the timely hits.”

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