Sumrall survives quarterfinal scare against Greene County with dramatic 5-3 win in rubber match

SUMRALL – Greene County gave no quarter in its battle against nationally-ranked Sumrall in the Class 4A baseball playoffs.

But the Bobcats didn’t get into the nation’s Top 10 by accident, and it was their postseason moxie that ultimately allowed them to prevail 5-3 Monday night in the deciding Game 3 of the quarterfinal series at Larry Knight Field.

Sumrall (31-1), which suffered its first defeat of the season on Friday against the Wildcats, advanced to face Northeast Jones in the South State finals. Greene County finished 22-14, ending a stirring playoff run that came up short.

“No doubt about it; we came in here expecting to win,” said Greene County coach Nick Chatham. “We told the kids before the game that this series started as David vs. Goliath, but it turned into Goliath vs. Goliath.

“I’m so proud of these boys and what they’ve accomplished. It’s been a great run.”

The Wildcats were well-versed in third games coming into Monday’s climactic contest, having won the deciding game in their previous two series against Poplarville and Quitman, and they played against Sumrall like a team that believed they belonged in a championship setting.

“We have bracelets we wear with GRIT written on them, and if I had enough, I’d give (Greene County) the bracelets too, because that’s a gritty team,” said Sumrall coach Andy Davis. “Coach Chatham does an unbelievable job with that program.

“They fought us tooth and nail. It’s sad that they had to go home.”

Monday’s game lived up to its billing, and then some, in front of a loud, standing-room-only crowd estimated at a little over 1,000, with a strong following from Greene County.

Wildcat senior left-hander Garret Henderson and senior right-hander Marshall Phillips for Sumrall had a brisk pitcher’s duel going through the first three innings.

Henderson retired the first eight batters he faced on just 28 pitches, then surrendered a hit-batter and a walk before getting out of the bottom of the third.

Phillips struck out six batters in the first three innings, but the Wildcats had him on the ropes in the top of the third after walking the bases loaded. But Phillips got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.

It was a trend that would haunt Greene County all night, as the Wildcats also left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings.

“We came up a little bit short tonight,” said Wildcat junior Collin Pipkins. “We’ve been leaving a lot of runners on base, and that’s been one of our main problems this year. Tonight, that cost us. But we’re going to work on it next year and see if we can’t come back after them again.”

Greene County finally broke through in the top of the fourth, scoring all three of its runs, and taking advantage of Phillips’ inability to consistently find the strike zone.

“I was on and off that whole time,” said Phillips. “The times I was off was when I was falling down instead of staying up straight.”

With one out, Conner West singled up the middle for the first hit of the game for either team. Two walks loaded the bases before the Bobcats made a change to senior left-hander Keegan Mauldin.

Mauldin got a strikeout, then walked a run home. Pipkins followed by smacking an 0-1 pitch into the gap in left-centerfield for a two-run double and a 3-0 Greene County lead.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” said Pipkins, the team leader with a .384 batting average coming into Monday’s game. “I was just trying to score some runs, to put our team on top.

“We really came alive batting this year, and we’ve become a really good team because of it.”

That was all the damage the Wildcats could do, as Mauldin got an inning-ending flyout with runners at second and third.

Sumrall wasted no time getting some of that margin back in the bottom of the fourth. Phillips hit the first pitch of the inning from Henderson into leftfield for a double.

After a walk and a strikeout, Henderson got an out at second on a grounder up the middle, with Phillips moving to third. Henderson got a quick 0-2 count on Sumrall senior Brycen Smith, but Smith cracked the next pitch for a hot shot through the middle for an RBI single.

Eight-hole hitter Ryan Cole Broom worked a full count then singled to left to drive in a run to make it 3-2 and leave runners at second and third with two out.

At that point, Henderson was only at 60 pitches, but Chatham went for senior Braden Brewer, who started the game at shortstop.

Brewer needed just two pitches to get out of the mess, inducing an inning-ending popup to short.

“(Henderson) is about a four-inning guy,” said Chatham. “He’s been giving us four innings in these game threes, then we bring Brewer in to get the last three. So it worked out like we wanted it.

“We just didn’t make the plays behind Brewer, but he came in and did what we needed him to do.”

After Mauldin got through the fifth without issue, the Bobcats tied it up in the bottom of the inning off Brewer.

Senior Cade Dedeaux led off with a double and went to third by beating a throw from Wildcat second baseman West on a grounder off the bat of junior Landon Holliman.

Holliman squared to bunt, then pulled the bat away and slapped the ball over the head of first baseman Phillip Herring, who was charging on the play. West, however, alertly fielded the ball, but Dedeaux was able to just beat the throw to third.

Sumrall loaded the bases with a walk before Brewer got a pair of strikeouts, and he was close to getting out of trouble. However, senior Levi Odom fouled off a couple of 3-2 strikes then took the eighth pitch of the at-bat for a run-scoring walk.

“All year, I’ve come in for tight spots, so that was nothing new,” said Brewer (1-4). “They hit the ball and we made some plays, but some of them they hit in the holes and there wasn’t anything we could do about that.”

Greene County had two golden opportunities to score in the final two innings, due to wildness on the part of Bobcat pitchers. In all, Sumrall pitchers walked 12 batters, but only surrendered three hits.

“They just made big pitches,” said Chatham. “We had too many strikeouts in big spots. If you take away a couple of those strikeouts with the bases loaded, it’s a different ball game.”

In the sixth, the Wildcats got the first two runners on via a walk and an infield single. Smith, a right-hander, came on to pitch for Sumrall and he was greeted by a successful sacrifice by junior Luke Barfield.

Another walk loaded the bases, but that played into the Bobcats’ hands, as Smith got Pipkins to hit into a force at the plate, then a strikeout to keep the game tied.

The Bobcats took the lead for the first time in the bottom of the sixth with two runs on two hits.

“That last inning, I couldn’t quite find my spot,” said Brewer. “I was up top, missing high and low, so I went sidearm and that seemed to help me set some strikes.”

Senior Hayes Raner was hit by a pitch with one out, then Dedeaux hit a high fly ball to leftfield that was misplayed for an error, putting runners on second and third.

Holliman followed with a fly to right, deep enough for the run to score from third, then Phillips went the other way for a double inside the line in right, adding an insurance run.

Despite the lead, the Bobcats were initially shaky in the top of the seventh, as the first two batters for Greene County each drew walks.

Davis wasted little time in asking Phillips to return to the mound from second base to close it out. Phillips’ first pitch went all the way to the backstop for a wild pitch that moved the runners over, then a walk loaded the bases.

“After I had my double, Coach Davis asked me, ‘would you like to go in the seventh inning to pitch?” said Phillips. “I was jokingly saying no, because I didn’t think he was serious. But when he called my name, I knew it was my time to come through.

“We threw all fastballs. We weren’t going to even try anything offspeed. We knew they were kind of in the middle of their order, and if we could locate fastballs that it would either be groundballs or strikeouts.”

After settling himself down, Phillips rode his fastball for three straight strikeouts to have the unusual distinction of saving a game he started.

Although Greene County fell short of adding another state championship trophy to the one the Wildcats brought home in 2003, Chatham said he believes this series reminded everyone not to overlook his program.

“I think we’re back; I think we’ve been back for the last few years now, and this series just kind of solidified that,” said Chatham. “So, we’re looking forward to next year.

“It really stinks for these seniors, but they’ve made a great run and made a big impact on our baseball program. We’re going to miss the heck out of them.”

Sumrall, meanwhile, moves into familiar territory, playing for what would be the program’s tenth South State championship, against a Northeast Jones team that has never been this far in its history.

Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at Laurel, with the second game at Sumrall on Saturday

“I was kind of surprised to learn that they had never been to South State before,” said Davis. “They’ve been a good program for a long time. We’re going to have our hands full, and, if it comes to a third game, we’ll have to go up there.”