A week ago, Gavin Rogers was in the doghouse.
On Friday, the Soddy-Daisy first baseman moved into the penthouse.
Rogers belted a dramatic two-run home run in the ninth inning, leading the Region 3-AAA champion Trojans to a thrilling, 3-2, win over Smyrna in the sectional at Tom Higgins Field and right into the TSSAA Spring Fling state baseball tournament next week.
The clutch homer set off an immediate, wild celebration and Rogers, who was thumping his chest approaching third base, was mobbed by delirious teammates once he reached home plate.
East Hamilton, which lost to Soddy-Daisy in the Region 3-AAA title game after beating the Trojans for the district championship, plays at Region 4-AAA champion Columbia on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Eastern in its bid to join the state tournament field.
“I was half way to first base when I saw the ball go out,” said Rogers, a junior, in a postgame telephone interview. “At that moment I was on top of the world. It’s by far the best feeling of my life and my best baseball moment.”
Trojans coach Jared Hensley, doused by champagne by fellow coaches and friends on his arrival at home, called Rogers’ long blast a “bomb.”
“I’m pretty sure somebody picked the ball up at Hardee’s,” he said.
Rogers was benched early in a district tournament game due to arriving late to the ballpark at McMinn County and “copping” an attitude with coaches. Hensley had a couple of “sit-down chats” with Rogers after the incident, and a few other players, and the team rebounded to win district and region titles before knocking off the Bulldogs in a win-or-go-home sectional contest.
“Gavin is probably the most emotional guy we’ve got, by far,” Hensley said. “I had a few talks with him and he got his mind right. He knew he owed me one and it was his time tonight. I couldn’t be happier for him because he deserved it.”
The Trojans will take a 23-10 record to Murfreesboro in quest of the school’s second state baseball championship – the first came in 1977, according to the TSSAA web site.
That year Soddy-Daisy lost to Walker Valley in the district final, beat the Mustangs for the regional crown and edged Tullahoma in the sectional. The Trojans lost to Farragut, beat Mt. Juliet and then was eliminated from the state tourney by Collierville.
“We said from day one in the fall that this year’s team was very similar to the 2011team,” Hensley said. “We talked a lot about that. We didn’t try to dodge it. This is what we wanted to do – get to state. We set out goals and didn’t shy away from them.
“Two weeks ago I wouldn’t have given you a dime for these guys. Right now I’m so proud of this entire group and what they’ve accomplished.”
Smyrna, which upset Riverdale in the region semifinals and then lost to Columbia in the title game, finished its season with a 17-15 mark.
Soddy-Daisy grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Tre Carter reached on an infield grounder and went to second on the overthrow at first. Dillon Clift, who had a three-run homer and two other hits that produced seven RBIs in the Region 3-AAA championship win over East Hamilton on Wednesday, drove Carter home with a single.
The Bulldogs tied the game at 1-all in the second on Dayton Sanders’ sacrifice fly.
Smyrna took a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth on a freakish play.
With a Smyrna runner on second trying to steal third, Trojans third baseman Oz Perez broke to cover the base, but fell down and suffered what Hensley said could be a knee injury. The throw from Clift behind the plate, hit the base and rolled away with the runner scampering home with the go-ahead run.
“I was thinking we were going to lose the game on a play like that,” Hensley said.
Rogers had other ideas.
Clift singled and Rogers settled the issue with his clutch homer.
“I singled in my first at-bat,” he said. “I struck out the next two times up. Their pitcher got me with two off-speed strikes in the ninth, but I battled and got the count to 3-2. He gave me a fastball right down the middle and I just hit one.
“Last year we lost in the (sectional) against Riverdale and we set our goal to reach state this year,” Rogers said. “This is a great accomplishment for us.”
Hunter Maynor and Andy Wright combined on a six-hitter for the Trojans.
Maynor worked the first five innings, scattering four hits while striking out five and giving up an unearned run.
Wright, who threw a masterful one-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 3-0 win over Cookeville in the region semifinal, pitched the final four innings and got the win, thanks to Rogers’ long-ball heroics. Wright struck out five in his scoreless relief appearance.
Smyrna’s Cameron Harper went the distance, giving up seven hits, striking out 13 and walking none.
“He was unreal,” Hensley said.
LINESCORE
Smyrna 010 000 001 – 2 6 1
Soddy-Daisy 100 000 002 – 3 7 2
Harper and Deyong; Maynor, Wright (6) and Clift.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)