If this was a fishing story, it would be about the big one that got away.
Instead, this is a story about a high school baseball tournament, but the storyline is similar.
It's about the big one that got away.
Such was the case at Central's Gene Lively Stadium late Saturday afternoon in action from the Pounder Classic. The Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers had crafted a 5-2 lead with one out in the seventh inning and appeared to be heading toward victory over the Southside Panthers.
It all started with a clutch three-run homer from Southside's Logan Brooks to tie the score. Before the side was retired, the Panthers had sent 14 hitters to the plate and scored eight runs for a stunning 10- 5 victory.
There was no championship game after Thursday's rain washed out pool play, but the Panthers may as well be the unofficial champs winning four games without a defeat in the four-day tournament.
"That was a good win for us," said Southside coach Blake Bone following the incredible comeback.
"We're fortunate to come away with a win and I thought we did a good job of keeping our foot on the pedal when we tied the game in that last inning. That's a good team we just beat and we did a nice job of not giving up. And we had a pretty good weekend," he added.
Cade Evans was the starting pitcher for the Buccaneers who had only allowed two runs through the first six innings. He had surrendered 10 hits along the way, but had done a great job of keeping the opposing team away from a big inning.
There was simply nothing he could do in that final frame.
Evans got Jarren Wright on a grounder to second for the first out. A sharp single to left by Tanner Snow signaled the end of the night for Evans as Bray Wilson came in to relieve.
Jacob Coker greeted Wilson with a come-backer, who chose to throw to second in hopes of getting the lead runner.
That plan backfired as Snow beat the throw, putting the tying runners on with Brooks coming to bat. Brooks had ripped a grand slam in a Friday win over Fairborne and he hit a 2-2 pitch into virtually the same spot to knot the score at 5-5.
Four more walks, a run-scoring single by Baye Defranco, run-scoring doubles by Grayson Daughtery and Snow and a Buccaneer error allowed five more runs to score as a close game quickly turned into a rout.
It was a thrilling come-from-behind win for the Panthers while it was a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking last-second loss for the Bucs.
"That was a rough one," said first-year Boyd-Buchanan coach Taylor Gilley after his team had dropped to 4-3 with two losses on Saturday, the first one being 5-1 to Hixson earlier in the day.
"That wasn't pretty and it hurt as we just didn't close the deal. Getting the first out was huge and having a 5-2 lead at that point was nice, but we just have to learn how to finish. We just have to grow and learn from a game like this, but Cade pitched a great game.
"Despite the loss, I'm proud of our effort," Gilley added.
The Bucs had taken an early lead with one run in the first without the benefit of a hit.
E.J. Matthews reached on an error and eventually scored following walks to Brandon Willingham, Devin Spiegelhalter and Cooper Hodge.
The Panthers answered with two in the third on RBI-singles from Daughtery and Snow, but that lead didn't last long as the Bucs scored two of their own in the bottom of the inning.
Spiegelhalter drove in Seth Rogers with the first after Rogers had led off with a single. Willingham then got hit by a pitch and later scored the go-ahead run on a fielders choice by Hodge.
Then in the fifth, Boyd-Buchanan extended its lead with two more, including a run-scoring double by Hodge.
Nobody scored in the sixth, setting the stage for Southside's improbably comeback.
Southside ended the game with 10 runs on 15 hits. The Panthers also committed four errors.
The Bucs countered with five runs on six hits and three errors.
Daughtery, Snow and Brooks all had three hits for the winning Panthers while Spiegelhalter was the only Boyd-Buchanan player.
SOUTHSIDE 002 000 8 -- 10 15 4
BOYD-BUCHANAN 102 020 0 -- 5 6 3
Brooks, Coker (3), Austin (6), Edwards (6), Bartlett (7) and Coker, Brooks (3) and Coker (7); Evans, Wilson (7), Dennis (7) and Hodge.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)