CLEVELAND, Tenn. – As if there were ever any doubts that Bradley Central baseball coach Travis Adams is a chip off his old man’s block, they were certainly laid to rest with one gutsy call during Monday night’s improbable 2-1 comeback victory over visiting Walker Valley at the Bears’ Toby McKenzie baseball complex.
And it was straight out of his dad’s and former Bear coach Joe Adams’ book of baseball.
The Bears managed just one hit against the Mustangs but proved an opportunist to literally steal the key District 5-3A battle with their cross-town rival.
Down 1-0 headed into the fifth without a hit, the Bears got their lone hit off the bat of Briar Lee. A ground out from Caden Sherlin forced him at second, but an errant pickoff attempt sent the hustling Sherlin all the way to third. Pete Williams then grounded out to second to easily push across the tying run.
In the bottom of the sixth, WV starter Ethan Hailey hit leadoff hitter Riley Black with a pitch. Pinch runner Freddy Johnson took an aggressive enough of a lead on a fly ball to centerfield that the outfielder tried to double him up at first only to have the ball sail into the Bears dugout and send Johnson to third with one out.
And then things got exciting. Adams sent Johnson running on Hailey’s 2-1 pitch to Eli Wilson and the speedster did his best Jackie Robinson slide ahead of the catcher’s tag to safely steal home for the winning run.
The elder Adams, who earned his TSSAA Hall of Fame stripes, making just those sort of calls was all smiles as he met his son at the pitcher’s mound after the game.
“Yeah, we certainly didn’t have many opportunities tonight so we needed to do something. I had pretty much made up my mind after the first pitch that I was going to try it,” Adams said.
“When I got to third he told me to be ready, and I thought he was talking about a dirt read, but then he asked me if I thought I could take it. I thought he was joking, but he wasn’t laughing. He looked at me and said to go on the next pitch and I just tried to time it the best I could to take off as soon as he lifted his leg,” Johnson said of the play.
It was a bang-bang play at the plate, but a video seemed to confirm that Johnson just did slip by a visibly upset Hunter Shamblin’s tag at the plate to send the partisan crowd into a frenzy.
Asked if he had ever heard of Jackie Robinson, Johnson smiled and said, “Oh yeah, I’ve seen the play, but I never ever thought you would see me doing that. I was surprised as anyone, definitely a first for me.”
Bradley pitching ace Blaze Benton then took care of business in the top of the seventh to secure the win and finish his complete-game five hitter.
“They send a really good lineup up there and Benton came at them. He got ahead of the hitters and did what you would expect from a senior,” complimented Adams.
Benton struck out seven Mustang hitters and walked just one in a 98-pitch outing in which he threw 64 strikes and got ahead of 17 of the 27 hitters he faced.
“Big win for sure,” said Benton. “I just had to trust my stuff tonight and my secondary pitches were really working to set up the fastball. Coach puts you out there for a reason and I wanted to do my part. Games like this can be nerve-wrecking, but everybody has to do their part. Hopefully we can build off of it and get the sweep tomorrow.”
Both Benton and Hailey were magnificent all night in the battle of crafty lefthanders.
Hailey, who already has one no-hitter on the year, carried a no-no into that fifth inning, thanks to a devastating change up. He did walk three hitters and hit two others, but Black’s first inning line drive at the right field was the lone ball that was barreled by the Bears.
Lee’s hit which broke up the no-hitter was on a changeup that he lofted to short center.
Walker Valley (7-3, 3-2) plated the game’s first run in the fourth when Jordan Munck and Blake Peterson reached on back-to-back singles. Both advanced on a wild pitch and Benton’s high fastball sailed past the catcher to allow Munck to score for the 1-0 lead.
Benton regrouped, though, and retired the next nine hitters before giving up a leadoff walk in the seventh and a sharp single to Hailey to put two runners on. He then induced a ground ball to third and Black stepped on the bag to end the drama.
It was the second Monday outing in a row in which the Mustangs left a hard-luck loser, dropping a 4-1 heartbreaker to Cleveland last week in a game in which they also led 1-0 heading into the sixth.
“I don’t even know what happened out there tonight. We let them hang around and all of sudden they started believing and it just happened,” said Walker Valley coach Joe Shamblin. “Ethan pitched a heck of a game. It’s a tough one to lose.”
Bradley (7-3, 2-1) will travel to Walker Valley for the series finale on Tuesday.
WALKER VALLEY 000 100 0 – 1 5 3
BRADLEY CENTRAL 000 011 x – 2 1 1
Hailey, Smith (6), Munck (6) and Shamblin; Benton and Taylor.
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com or via Twitter @beachnut1134)