By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
SUMRALL – Larry Knight looked visibly relieved after his Sumrall baseball team escaped what could have been a colossal upset at the hands of Pass Christian Monday night in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Forced to play a deciding third game in the best-of-three series after losing 8-7 on Saturday in Game 2 of the series at Pass Christian, the Bobcats responded with a gritty 4-1 victory in front of a loud crowd at Larry Knight Field.
Third-ranked Sumrall (26-4) advanced to the second round of the playoffs to face Northeast Jones. Pass Christian, which had just one senior on its roster, finished its season 9-19.
“Now that we’re on the other side of it, we can look at it that way,” said Knight. “It’s like I was telling the guys earlier, we’ve been down to Pass Christian with some great teams, not played well and lost.
“I call it the Bermuda Triangle. We didn’t hit the ball well, walked or hit nine guys, had some errors and some other plays where balls dropped for them in just the right spot.”
The Bobcats didn’t get a lot done at the plate on Monday, but they didn’t need much thanks to senior Hunter Barrett, who overcame strep throat, which kept him out of the lineup for the first two games of the series, enough to give Sumrall what it needed on the mound.
Barrett (6-0) went the distance, scattered four hits, struck out 11 batters and didn’t walk a batter, although he did hit two with pitches.
“I only really threw two pitches tonight, my fastball and a hard slider,” said Barrett. “The key was controlling my fastball. There was a lot of adrenalin pumping early, so between innings, I just worked on extending the stride or shortening the stride as I needed.”
Barrett looked a little shaky in the first inning as the first four Pirate batters he faced hit the ball hard, two for long flyball outs to right field.
The second batter he faced, Mason Knapp, doubled to the fence in left-center field, and the third batter, Dustin Allison, drove in the run with a single.
“I was good in the bullpen (warming up), but I had an adrenalin rush when I got out there,” said Barrett. “My breaking ball was staying up and I wasn’t snapping it off the way I was supposed to. I was a little concerned, but not really worried.”
The Bobcats tied it up with a run in the second inning. With one out, senior Tanner Morgan was hit by a pitch from Pirate starter Bryce Dubuisson. Sumrall junior Seth Mitchell singled and sophomore Hayden Barrett walked to load the bases.
Senior Dannis Jackson appeared to pop up in the infield, but Dubuisson was called for a balk, nullifying the play, and Morgan trotted home with the tying run.
The Pirates appeared poised to score in the third after a single and a two-base error put the leadoff batter on third base. But the Pirates ran themselves out of the inning after a hit batter reached base only to be thrown out at second trying to steal.
A leadoff single in the fourth proved to be the last base-runner for Pass Christian, as Barrett retired the last 12 batters he faced.
“He usually goes about five (innings), then we have to pull him,” said Knight. “Tonight, I told him, ‘I need you to focus one pitch at a time.’
“He has a tendency, like he did in the first inning tonight, to overthrow, get some pitches up. But after we got him settled down, he started focusing and hitting his spot. I’m real proud of the way he pitched.”
Sumrall took the lead for good off Pirate reliever Marcos Chacon (0-1) in the fourth inning. With one out, Mitchell singled and took second on an error in the outfield. A wild pitch moved him to third and he came in on a sacrifice fly by Hayden Barrett.
Hunter Barrett helped himself in the sixth, as the Bobcats scored a pair of insurance runs. Barrett led off with a single to right field, stole second and scored on a double by senior Mason Story. A sacrifice moved Story to third and he scored on another balk.
Northeast Jones punched its ticket for the second round by sweeping Raymond in the opening round. Sumrall will host Game 1 on Thursday, the second game of the series is scheduled for Friday at Laurel with the deciding game back at Sumrall on Saturday, if needed.
“I know they’re very good,” said Knight. “They’re strong on the mound. They’ve got some good arms, and we expect a tough series.”
Prep Baseball Linescore
Class 4A First Round
Game 3
Monday at Larry Knight Field
Sumrall 4, Pass Christian 1
Pass 100 000 0 – 1 4 2
SHS 010 102 x – 4 6 1
PASS CHRISTIAN (9-19): Logan Webb 1B; Mason Knapp 2B; Dustin Allison 1B; Ian Trochesset 1B. LP – Marcos Chacon (0-1). Also pitching – Bryce Dubuisson (starter); Trentin Niolet.
SUMRALL (26-4): Zane Berry 1B; Hunter Barrett 2 1B; Mason Story 2B; Seth Mitchell 2 1B. WP – Hunter Barrett (6-0) 11 Ks.
