KODAK, Tenn. – An improbable eighth-inning rally and three hitless innings from
Quinton Driggers lifted Newberry to a come-from-behind 4-2 win over seventh-seeded Anderson in the Wolves' opening game at the 2019 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship.
The Wolves (39-12), ranked eighth in the latest national poll, trailed Anderson (20-30) 2-1 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, but a mishandled grounder off the bat of leadoff hitter
Zane Tarrance placed the Newberry right fielder on second base and opened the door for the Wolves' offense.
Tyler Ackard laid down a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning to move Tarrance to third base before
Colin Allman lifted what appeared to be a sacrifice fly to medium depth in left field. But the wind, gusting to nearly 35 mph, blew the ball down well shy of the Trojans' left fielder for an unconventional double that tied the score.
After a flyout and a stolen base,
Tony Matos rolled a 1-2 pitch up the middle that was snared by a diving Trojans' shortstop. The throw to first was late, however, driving in Allman and giving top-seeded Newberry its first lead of the game.
Matos stole second then came in to score on a play filled with miscues:
Peyton Spangler reached on a fielding error and moved to second when the shortstop threw home to try to punch out Matos, who had rounded the bag at third. The throw was in plenty of time, but the catcher lost the handle on the ball applying the tag on Matos as the left fielder stretched the lead to 4-2.
Driggers continued his lockdown performance with a perfect ninth inning to improve his record to 8-0 on the season, one shy of starter
Josh Bookbinder for tying the Newberry single-season record. He threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing two hits and a walk with six strikeouts. He retired the last five batters he faced.
The Trojans had a baserunner in each of the first three innings, two of which advanced into scoring position, before breaking through on an RBI fielder's choice to
Colin Allman that was nearly a slick double play with a barehanded catch at second base by
Dalton Lansdowne. A solo home run by center fielder Cody Adams to right field made the lead 2-0.
Newberry got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on an
Ian Clements single, a two-base sacrifice bunt by Lansdowne, and a throwing error by the first baseman trying to punch out the runner at third base. The Wolves got two more hits before a line drive by
Tyler Ackard was snared and turned into a double play.
Anderson reliever Christian Carpenter suffered the loss by allowing two unearned runs on a pair of hits in the bottom of the eighth.
Newberry will advance to face the loser of No. 3 seed Catawba and fourth-seeded Tusculum Saturday at 3:45 p.m. The contest will be an elimination game for either Catawba or Tusculum, while Newberry will enter the game 1-0 in tournament play.
