6A Playoffs: Northwest Rankin punches ticket to Pearl with 7-6 walk-off win over Brandon

FLOWOOD — Northwest Rankin coach K.K. Aldridge promised the Cougars’ star pitcher Nick Monistere after last year’s championship snafu he would get a chance to pitch the 2022 MHSAA State Championship at Trustmark Park as a senior.

On Sunday afternoon at Wesley Scarborough Field, that promise became a reality.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, pinch runner Bryson Jones stole third base and came around to score on a wild pitch from Brandon hurler Jackson Clark to give the Cougars a 7-6, series-clinching win over the cross-town rival Bulldogs.

“I’m just so proud of our guys,” NWR coach K.K. Aldridge said. “To be able to have the season we’ve had this year and get back (to the championship). It didn’t go our way last year, so we knew we had unfinished business, and it’s not over yet.”

Northwest Rankin will face either Oxford or DeSoto Central in the 6A Championship Series at Trustmark Park next week.

There were many heroes Sunday for the Cougars (32-2).

After Brandon scored two runs in the first and another in the second, the Cougars put up a five-spot in the bottom of the second.

Brice Ainsworth drove in a run with an RBI single. He came around to score three batters later on Evan Rogers’ two-RBI single right back up the middle. Game 1’s winning pitcher Nick Monistere came through with an RBI single and Brady Thomas capped the scoring with another RBI single that brought Rogers home.

When the dust settled, the Cougars led it 5-3.

Brandon got one of those runs back in the third on Keys’ second home run of the game, this one a no-doubter over the left field wall that the defenders just turned and watched.

But Northwest Rankin starter Connor Brooks settled down after that and gutted out another three innings. He retired six of the next eight batters he faced, working around a one-out single in the fourth and a leadoff double in the fifth.

The Cougars pushed their lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth, when Monistere singled to lead off the inning and scored on an ensuing triple from Thomas.

“I’ve known since day one — since the loss in the championship last year — that we were going to have come out here with good intensity and battle with everything (we had),” Thomas said. “We’re on the road to redemption, and I think that’s what we’ve been looking forward to.”

Brandon wasn’t done yet — the Bulldogs tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth. First baseman Braden Smith homered to lead off the frame, and Nick Thornton drew a walk and came around to score on Kandin Williams’ RBI single to right-center.

“We never stopped fighting,” Brandon coach Daniel Best said. “And that’s the thing I was the most proud of. After the game last night got out of hand, it would have been easy for our guys to lay down, but they kept answering. That’s all I can ask of them and we’ve got no reason to hang our heads.”

The Cougars put a runner in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but Brandon pitcher Walker Hooks — a sophomore committed to Mississippi State — got a strikeout and a fly out to center field to get out of it.

Brandon got a single from Jonah Katsaboulas to lead off the top of the seventh, but NWR reliever Powell Ingram induced a fly ball off the bat of Keys, and K.K. Clark lined a ball right at the third-baseman Ainsworth, who caught it and flipped it to first to double up Katsaboulas and end the threat.

Brandon sent out freshman Jackson Clark to pitch the bottom of the seventh against the meat of the Northwest Rankin lineup. Thomas grounded into a fielder’s choice that left him at first base with two away, and Jones came on as a courtesy runner. After stealing second, Jones advanced to third on an infield single off the bat of Dawson Muenzenmay.

Clark’s 2-1 pitch to Christian Cameron bounced off the turf in front of home plate and got away from Keys behind the plate. He scrambled to get the ball back to Clark at the plate, but Jones slid in just in front of the tag, setting off a wild, celebratory dog-pile behind home plate.

“This is what we’ve been working towards all year,” Aldridge said. “So to be in this position, you feel like some of that hard work has paid off. I couldn’t be prouder.”

While the Cougars were enjoying the thrill of victory, the Bulldogs (26-8) were saddled with the agony of defeat.

Keys went 2-for-4 with three RBIs on two home runs, both over the left-field wall. Sophomore Mississippi State commit Walker Hooks (everyone, remember that name) drew the start on the mound and gave up six runs on nine hits and two walks in six innings of work, striking out five.

“Walker settled in and gave us four more good innings after giving up the five-spot in the second,” Brandon coach Daniel Best said. “We found a way to scratch our way back into the game and gave ourselves a chance in the end.”