Dramatic 'Dogs Win Crown
In his time as head baseball coach of Harrisburg High School, Jay Thompson has guided the Bulldogs to 20 regional titles.
However, none were nearly as dramatic as the one Harrisburg claimed after a 2-1 thrilling win over Carmi-White County Saturday afternoon at McLeansboro High School.
Down one run in the bottom of the sixth, Harrisburg rallied after Will Gibbs led the inning off after reaching on an error. Isaac Crabb put a charge into a line drive that was caught in left field, but that followed a pair of walks to Dalton Lambert and Gauch, loading the bases for the Bulldogs.
Jack Martin then had a hot shot to third that resulted in an error, scoring Gibbs and Carson Burtis laid down a perfect bunt to score Lambert.
With more twists and turns that an episode of Days Of Our Lives, the drama wasn't done.
Carmi-White County threatened in the top of the seventh when with runners on first and third, Travis Black, who gave CWC the 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the first inning, struck out. The ensuring plays of events are what won the game for Harrisburg.
When Dalton Lambert relieved Harrisburg starter Christian Williams in the seventh and struck out Black for the second out, Bryce Northcott attempted to steal second and Crabb's throw from home was cut off by Gibbs, who fired back to Crabb at home to get a sliding Stewart for the games final out.
The Harrisburg baseball program hoisted the school's 24th regional title as Thompson wiped some sweat from his forehead.
"I've never been a part of a regional championship game that was as dramatic as this one," Thompson admitted. "That was just amazing how that whole thing unfolded. The play we made at both ends to end the game was unbelievable. Isaac made a strong throw to second and Will came in, cut it off, made a strong throw to the plate and I'm not sure Isaac didn't have to catch that ball on a hop. He caught it and tagged the kid out."
Thompson credited his offense for battling after being down 1-0 most of the game.
"We kept swimming the bats and we just stayed with it long enough. We put the ball in play and fortunately for us, Carmi-White County made a couple of defensive mistakes that ended up making the difference.
"The huge one though is Burtis dropping the squeeze bunt and driving in the second run. I mean, when he came up to bat, I just looked at him and he's shaking his head yes. I knew exactly what he wanted to do and it was beautiful."
Burtis' squeeze bunt was Harrisburg's only hit of the day off Carmi starter Justin Lamp, who took the tough luck loss, after striking out three, walking two and giving up two unearned runs.
Williams got the win, going six strong innings, allowing one run on four hits, while striking out six and walking four. Lambert got the save, striking out one, while walking one and giving up on hit.
"We were afraid in the fourth inning that he was done and he was really hot," Thompson said of Williams' perseverance. "He scuffled that inning, but to his credit, Christian came back in the fifth and sixth and stuck it to them.
"The thing with Dalton is he is smart and knows how to pitch and the strikeout of Black was huge and the thing with Dalton is he as the ability to pitch backwards. When kids are looking for breaking balls, he's throwing fastballs and when they are looking for fastball, he can throw something off speed. He's very effective."
Harrisburg now goes home to host its own Sectional, where the Bulldogs will play Nashville, who beat Trico 8-5 in the Pinckneyville Regional. Anna-Jonesboro won the Johnston City Regional, while Benton knocked off Du Quoin.
Anna-Jonesboro will play Benton on Wednesday at 4 p.m., while Harrisburg will play Nashville Wednesday at 6 p.m. The 2A Sectional Championship will be Saturday at 11 a.m.
"It's going to be a lot more fun playin there than it will be fixing the field for someone else to play there," Thompson said. "These kids have just battled all year. They never say die, they never quit and somehow, we find a ways to win games."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Southern Illinois Local Media News Group. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.