(Story has been updated with Class AAA state pairings)
Throttled for five-plus innings by Columbia right-hander Jonathan Davis, East Hamilton’s bats suddenly came to life and the Hurricanes rallied with four runs in the eighth inning to pull out a 7-3 sectional victory on Saturday and earn the school’s first trip to the TSSAA Spring Fling state baseball tournament.
Davis dominated the Hurricanes by striking out 11 of 15 batters through five innings and the Hurricanes were having trouble just hitting the ball, much less scoring runs to challenge the Region 4-AAA runner-up Lions.
“That kid was brilliant,” East Hamilton coach Steve Garland said of Davis, who finished with 16 strikeouts before giving way to a reliever after seven innings.
“But our guys found a way to score three runs to tie the game up and then won it in the eighth. It’s hard to explain how we dug ourselves out of the hole we were in after five innings.”
The victory advanced the Hurricanes (21-12), District 5-AAA tourney champions and Region 3-AAA runners-up, into the state tournament that begins Tuesday in Murfreesboro. They will face Farragut (31-7) at 6:30 p.m. at Siegel High.
Soddy-Daisy’s Trojans (23-10), runner-up to East Hamilton in the district who rebounded to beat the Hurricanes for the Region title, drew Hendersonville (31-7) in the first round. Game time is 4 p.m. at Oakland High.
“This is a dream come true,” Garland said in a telephone interview. “We’ve knocked on the door a few times. This was our third sectional in five years. We’re wrapping up the best 3-hour bus ride you can imagine. And I tell you this, I like our chances at state. The competition will be tough, but guys are really playing good baseball.”
East Hamilton suffered sectional losses in 2011, 2013 and 2014. The 2011 setback came when the Hurricanes were competing in Class AA. They bucked that trend in Saturday’s game, which was moved from Friday to accommodate the Hurricanes’ graduation on Friday.
Several players share the credit for East Hamilton’s remarkable comeback, but pitcher Nick Woods stood out.
Woods had given up six hits and three runs – two earned – through three innings. From the fourth to seventh innings, however, he no-hit the Lions and in the eighth gave up a harmless single before striking out Davis and Jackson Cook to end the game.
“After settling in, Nick was lights out,” Garland said.
Lions catcher Alex Webb, a University of Alabama signee, led off the first with a double and scored on Spencer Holt’s two-out RBI single.
In the third, Webb walked and Devin Symlar delivered a run-scoring single. With Symlar on third, Hurricanes third-baseman Matt Watters fielded a ground ball and threw home trying to get Symlar. Catcher Nick Fahler dropped the throw and Symlar scored to give the Lions a 3-0 lead.
“Now, we’re on thin ice,” Garland said. “They score two runs and have the bases loaded with no outs.”
Woods gets a strikeout and Josh Aslinger grabs a fly ball in right field and fires a strike to home for Fahler, who then throws to Watters to catch the runner in a rundown to complete a critical double play.
“After that, Nick shut them down with an inspired effort on his part,” Garland said.
The Class AAA baseball bracket is now awaiting the sectional outcome between Collierville and Bartlett. That winner would complete the bracket with state tournament play beginning
Through five innings, Davis had faced the minimum 15 batters and had walked one. After Woods drew a walk, courtesy runner Jeffrey Coleman was picked off. That’s how the day was going for the Hurricanes.
“I figured we were cooked,” Garland said. “We had put three balls in play – a ground ball, a lazy fly to left and a pop to short. We weren’t even close to finding ways to get on base, let alone score a run.”
Things quickly changed.
With one out in the sixth, Brandon Del Valle walked. Garett Stone singled to center and Matt Milita ripped a double over the left-fielder’s head to drive in a run and put runners at second and third. Kyle Cox grounded to short and both runners scored on a throwing error to tie the game at 3-all.
Stone, the No. 9 hitter, singled to start the eighth inning and Milita moved him over with a sacrifice bunt. Watters singled to center, but Stone was thrown out at the plate by Symlar for the second out. On the throw home, Watters went to second.
“I decided to roll the dice in that situation,” Garland said. “Even though our guy was out at the plate, we still had a runner in scoring position.”
Coleman came on to run for Watters.
With Harris on in relief, Cox stroked a first-pitch hit to left field, driving in Coleman with the go-ahead run, a play that more than made up for his being picked off earlier.
Harris hit Nick Gratigny and Woods to load the bases.
Fahler blooped a two-run single over the first baseman’s head to extend the lead to 6-3.
Garrett Owen singled to center, pushing the Hurricanes’ seventh run across.
Woods slammed the door on the Lions to nail down the Hurricanes’ improbable come-from-behind win.
“When Milita hit that ball over the left fielder’s head, I think Columbia was in shock,” Garland said. “They hadn’t been forced to play defense the whole game. The first throw they had to make turned into an error. After Milita’s hit, everyone got some confidence.
“Our situation seemed impossible. In five minutes, we went from a one percent chance of winning to being tied. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I have to give our guys credit for finding a way to win the game. It’s a testament to them.”
LINESCORE
East Hamilton 000 003 04 – 7 8 1
Columbia 102 000 00 – 3 7 1
Woods and Fahler; Davis, Harris (8) and Webb.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)