The Baylor Red Raiders came up just a little bit short against Montgomery Bell Academy Saturday afternoon at Baylor's Wyatt McMahan Field.
MBA jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first two innings and the Big Red made it stand as they held off a furious Baylor comeback for a 6-5 victory in the third game of their weekend series.
Baylor had taken the first two games on Friday by scores of 3-1 and 8-4.
The Big Red didn't exactly rip the cover off the ball as they only had four hits for the game on Saturday, but two of them were doubles that drove in five of the six runs.
"It was a good game to watch from the fan's perspective, but it was nervewracking for me," said MBA coach Thomas Wims after his team had improved to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the D-II East-Middle standings.
"For us to salvage one game in this series helps our mindset, but even when we had the six-run lead, it wasn't over because Baylor has an outstanding team and we knew they would come back.
"I'm proud of our pitchers for keeping their composure and I really thought that Conry Miler did a good job of shutting them down at the end. I'm real pleased to leave here with a win today," Wims added.
Senior Alex Kohls was the winning pitcher as he pitched six innings while allowing all five runs on 10 hits. He struck out five and walked three before turning the game over to Miler with two on and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh.'
Will Crimmins tried to advance the runners with a bunt, but Miler fielded the ball along the first-base line, wheeled and fired a strike to Kohls, who went to short and was covering third on the play.
Miler then got the second out on a called third strike while Kohls made a nice play on a slow roller to short to get the final out.
"We had two runners on with nobody out and one of our best bunters up to the plate. They made a play to get the first out that you very rarely see in a high school game," said Baylor coach Gene Etter.
"I'm proud of our comeback, but this is a tough one to lose. Taylor Burgess had pitched well in relief on Friday and he did another outstanding job today. I thought Davis Culpepper did a fine job as well.
"McLain Bachus had pitched well in relief to earn his first start, but I think he may have been a little bit nervous at the start," Etter said.
Things didn't start off very well for Bachus and his teammates.
Will Campbell and Jody Gorham both reached on walks and later scored on a two-run double off the fence in right-center by cleanup hitter James Kay.
Bachus retired the first two hitters in the second, but back-to-back walks to Monte Turner and Campbell was followed by a single from Gorham to load the bases.
Henry Beveridge then made it 5-0 with a three-run double to deep left. Beveridge went to third on the throw to the plate and later scored the sixth run on a wild pitch.
Bachus was replaced by Burgess after the double. Despite allowing the run on the wild pitch, Burgess then retired the next 10 hitters without allowing another base runner.
Culpepper handled the final two innings and didn't allow a run, although he did allow a hit and an intentional walk in the seventh, but retired the side with two MBA runners on base.
Baylor got on the board with two runs in the third, the first coming home on an error while Crimmins drove in the second with a fielders choice.
The score remained 6-2 until the bottom of the sixth as Baylor sent eight hitters to the plate.
Crimmins and Colton Jumper both reached on one-out singles before a walk to Tanner Hulse loaded the bases. Crimmins and Jumper both scored on a single by Taylor Maxey while Hulse scored on a single by Cooper.
Kohls escaped any further damage with his fifth strikeout to end the inning.
Brandon Robertson and Zach McKelvey both reached with singles to start the Baylor seventh, but that's when Miler came in and slammed the door to preserve the victory.
While Beveridge and Kay both had key doubles, Gorham and Turner both finished with a single apiece.
Cooper and Jumper both had two hits for Baylor.
Baylor returns to action on Tuesday afternoon with a 5 p.m.
game against the Soddy Daisy Trojans.
MBA 240 000 0 -- 6 4 2
BAYLOR 002 003 0 -- 5 10 0
Kohls, Miler (7) and Jefferson; Bachus, Burgess (2), Culpepper (6) and Craig.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)