Pisgah headed back to 2A Semifinals after wild 7-6 win over Lake in extra innings

PISGAH — Ross Rankin stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, the Pisgah Dragons tied with the Lake Hornets at 6-6 in a winner-take-all Game Three with a trip to the 2A South State Final on the line and the winning run aboard at third base.

The 1-1 pitch was a curveball, and Rankin didn’t miss it. His laser of a line-drive single through the left side brought home the runner, giving Pisgah a 7-6 win and a trip to the 2A South State Final for a showdown with Stringer.

“This feels amazing,” Rankin said. “I knew he was a big curveball guy, and I was late on the fastball. After I was late, I figured they were still going to try to sneak the curveball by me because they did the same thing in my previous at-bat. I was ready for it. I sat back, loaded, and I hit it.”

With the win, the Dragons (28-6) extend what was already a record-breaking season for the program. Their 28 wins has already topped the previous school record of 25.

Rankin’s walk-off single was a fitting end to a game that had everything.

Pisgah started senior Jackson Swales, who hadn’t pitched in a month due to arm strain. He came out hotter than the fresh boudin balls at the concession stand, striking out the side in the first.

He struck out seven, but walked five and left with the game tied 3-3 in the third inning. Parker Prisock went 2.2 innings in relief, giving up three earned runs on a walk and three hits.

Freshman Ian Holliday was the hero on the mound. He pitched the final 3.1 innings without giving up a hit to earn the win.

Jacob Lanier suffered the loss for Lake, but he pitched well in relief of starter Brady Mcgee. Lanier came in with two outs in the sixth and worked out of a jam to preserve the 6-6 tie, then held Pisgah at bay until Rankin finally broke through with his RBI single in the ninth.

The Dragons had two prime chances to end the game before Rankin’s big hit.

Swales laced a one-out triple into the gap in left-center in the seventh, but the Lake defense made a solid play on a fielder’s choice groundout to third and tagged him out at home to extend the game.

In the eighth, Gavin Bledsoe drew a one-out walk and advanced to third on a throwing error. After Brendon Gaunt went down swinging for the second out, Bledsoe tried to steal home but was caught to send the game to the ninth.

“I told everyone the first time we got a runner on third to remember the sign for the squeeze play,” Pisgah coach Sam Starnes said. “I didn’t do it, then I didn’t do it again in the eighth inning, and we had two base-running blunders. We were just trying to speed the game up too much, so when we got another chance in the ninth, I was determined to slow the game down a little bit.”

Whatever the strategy, it paid off, and now the Dragons will play with a trip to Trustmark Park for the second year in a row. They lost in the 2A North Playoffs to East Union a year ago.

“It’s the same mentality (as last season),” Rankin said. “We’re trying to show the younger guys on the team that we can do this. We were really proud of the winning streak at home… they actually ruined our undefeated record at home — we hadn’t lost here until this past Friday night, so I’m glad to get that win back.”

Pisgah picked up seven hits from seven different players. Bledsoe hit a towering home run over the left-center wall in the second inning to tie the game at 3-3. Holliday had a two-run double in the fifth. Ryder White drove in a run in the sixth.

J.D. Gibson and Lanier provided most of the fireworks for Lake (24-6). Gibson went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Lanier drove in a pair of runs with a single.