St. Andrew's wins rubber match against St. Patrick to advance to MHSAA Playoffs Second Round

RIDGELAND — Friend Walker picked the right night to have the game of his life.

Walker pounded out three hits and drove in five runs to lead St. Andrew’s to a 12-2 win over St. Patrick in a six-inning run-rule in the decisive Game 3 of their MHSAA Class 3A Baseball playoff series at Barrett-Cummings Field on Monday night.

With the win, the Saints (21-9) advance to face Southeast Lauderdale in the Second Round of the MHSAA Class 3A baseball playoffs.

“Friend hadn’t had things going his way lately, but tonight he finally got us a big two-out hit when we needed it and hit in the right spot,” said St. Andrew’s coach Mark Fanning. “In Game 1, the center fielder made a diving catch similar to that, so the ball came in and he dove and the ball got by him and it’s probably the most exciting play in baseball — an inside-the-park home run — and he got it.”

Walker's round-tripper came with the bases loaded in a 1-1 game in the bottom of the fourth. Walker's line drive to center got under the glove of the St. Patrick centerfielder and rolled to the wall. That cleared the bases, and Walker beat the throw to the plate to give the Saints a 5-1 lead.

“I had a rough first two games of the series and had to bounce back tonight," Walker said. "Real proud of the way the team played. I’ve never hit an inside-the-park grand slam, but it felt good and I was moving. That’s the fastest I’ve ever ran in my life. We have high energy on this team and we feed off of it, so I feel good about us in the next round.”

St. Patrick cut the lead to 5-2 in the top of the fifth on Otis Brooks' RBI single to left.

St. Andrew’s responded as Walker Van Meter hit a solo home run to left to give the Saints a 6-2 lead.

The Saints scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run single by Stone Myrick, to end the game.

Andrew Carron (8-4) got the win on the mound in relief for St. Andrew’s.

“That grand slam gave us some breathing room," Fanning said. "And the home run was big because it gave us the run back. Big thing for us is our pitching depth was big in this series. We had some guys step up, and at the plate we had some clutch hits. We found a way to win and get to move on.”

Otis Brooks (6-4) took the loss on the mound for St. Patrick. The Irish finished the season 14-15.