Matt Sharpe Pitches, Hits Falcons To First State Berth
by John Hunt
posted May 16, 2008
It just wasn’t meant to be for the Red Bank Lions baseball team.
Enjoying one of the most productive seasons in recent memory with District and Region championships, the next step was earning a spot in next week’s TSSAA State Tournament.
Unfortunately for the Lions, the visiting Lincoln County Falcons had other ideas.
As a result, the Falcons headed back to Fayetteville Friday night with their heads held high and feeling pretty special after ending Red Bank’s season with a 9-3 victory.
Matt Sharpe was the starter for the Falcons and he went the distance, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while recording seven strikeouts.
Perhaps the most important part of his performance was that he kept Red Bank away from a big inning and the Lions never really recovered after falling behind 3-0 in the third.
Bryan Sharp, Matt’s older brother and one of just two seniors on the Falcon roster, had singled and doubled in his first three trips.
With two men on and nobody out in the top of the seventh, Red Bank elected to intentionally walk Bryan in hopes of having better luck with Matt, who had walked in three at-bats.
The plan backfired in a big way as Matt ripped a 1-1 fastball over the fence in dead center for a grand slam, giving his team a comfortable six-run lead.
The Lions got two men on in the bottom of the seventh, but Corey Emery grounded out to first to end the game and the season for Red Bank.
“It kind of made me mad when they intentionally walked my brother to get to me. I had to do something," the younger brother said.
"It was a fastball that was a little up and I got all of it. I knew it was gone when I hit it,” the junior pitcher continued.
“I wasn’t real loose when the game started, but my curve was working and I felt stronger as the game went on. I finally got comfortable on their mound, but I feel good now,” he smiled after improving to 9-2 for the year.
Lincoln County coach Travis Tate was certainly happy after watching his team improve to 26-11 with its most important win of the year.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. Our game plan was to threaten, threaten and threaten with bunts and stolen bases and stuff like that. We knew coming in that Red Bank has an outstanding team, but Matt pitched a great game.
“He didn’t miss many spots and he did it on guts. We let him have a least a week between starts, but today he pitched with just three days rest. I think it was his best game all year,” Tate expressed.
“He’s also one of the best hitters on our team and not normally one that goes oh-for a game. I would have settled for a sacrifice fly at that point in the seventh, but their guy gave him a fastball up a little bit and he centered it.
"That may have taken what little wind they had left in their sails completely out and that certainly gave us a lot of confidence going into the last inning,” Tate added.
“This is the first time a Lincoln County team has ever advanced to the state tournament in baseball. Now we’re just three wins away from a state championship,” he concluded.
Red Bank coach Bumper Reese was naturally disappointed, but he still had plenty of reasons to be optimistic when the final out had been recorded.
“I’m extremely proud of these guys as they took Red Bank baseball to a place it hasn’t been in a long time.
"Alan (Walden) just didn’t have it tonight, but he got us to this point and this was his game,” Reese said.
“We had a good scouting report on them, but their pitcher worked ahead on probably 90 percent of the batters he faced. His breaking ball was working and his fastball was just good enough to throw it by us when it counted. He did a great job.
“They hit the ball better than we did as they came ready to play. They just wanted to win tonight worse than we did. They executed bunts and sacrifice flies when they had to.
"We made a few mistakes, but it wasn’t any particular play that beat us.
“Tthis is the best year we’ve had since I’ve been here. I just hope our younger guys can keep it going next year,” he added.
Walden started for Red Bank and didn’t have one of his better outings. He got through the first two innings without any damage, but he fell behind when the Falcons put three runs on the board in the third.
He ended up hurling five innings, allowing five hits and three walks with five runs. He also struck out five.
Hunter Adkins pitched the final two frames and allowed two hits, two walks and the four runs while striking out one.
The Falcons took the lead in the third. Jordan Whitaker led off with a bunt single and went to second when Jeremy Dollar walked.
Both advanced on a wild pitch and both scored on a single by Timmy Simms. Bryan Sharpe got his first hit with an RBI-single to drive in the third run.
Lincoln County added an unearned run in the fourth and fifth innings before Sharpe’s grand slam in the seventh.
Red Bank got on the board with a single run in the third. Kacy Bembry reached on an error to start the inning and scored when Craig Barker singled to right and the ball scooted past the right fielder for an error as Barker raced to third.
Sharpe got the first out on a swinging third strike before Emery flied to center for the second out.
Barker attempted to score on the play and appeared to slide under the catcher’s tag, but he was called out to end the inning.
The Lions added two more in the sixth with Brandon Ward driving in Adkins with a single and Cullen Clabo getting pinch-runner Ryan Potter home with a fielder’s choice.
With two men still on, Sharpe got the third out on another swinging third strike to end the threat.
Red Bank had trimmed the gap to 5-3 at that point, but minutes later Sharpe ripped his second homer of the season to put the game out of reach for Lincoln County.
The Falcons finished with seven hits. Bryan Sharpe had two while five other players had one apiece.
Red Bank finished with six hits. All were singles and nobody had more than one.
The Lions finish their season at 25-16.
Lincoln Co. 003 110 4 – 9 7 2
Red Bank 001 002 0 – 3 6 4
Sharpe and Reese; Walden, Adkins (6) and Barker.
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com
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