St. Chris wins back-and-forth baseball thriller against Collegiate
Twilight was descending on Collegiate’s Sam Newell Field Tuesday when St. Christopher’s rightfielder Jaerron Johnson hauled in a long fly ball in the bottom of the eighth inning that brought, at long last, the Saints’ 9-8 victory over the Cougars to conclusion.
The game between the two longtime crosstown rivals was a wild and wooly affair that began at 4:30 p.m. and ended three hours, nine minutes later.
Both teams came out swinging and combined for 22 hits and enough clutch moments to fill a post-season highlight reel.
When one surged ahead, the other fought back.
The Saints, No. 8 in the latest VISAA poll, led 4-1 after an inning and a half, then fell behind 7-4 when No. 5 Collegiate put up six runs in the bottom of the second.
The visitors scored two more runs in the third to cut their deficit to 7-6, then added one in the fourth to pull even and another in the fifth to go up 8-7.
The Cougars forged an 8-8 tie in the seventh when Owen Prusek smacked a home run over the 350-foot centerfield wall before yielding the deciding run in the top of the eighth.
“When we play Collegiate, we always know it’s going to be a good game because Andrew Slater is a great coach,” said Tony Szymendera, who has headed the St. Christopher’s baseball program for 39 years.
“They have good players, and the kids from both teams always get up to play this game. What surprised me a little bit was how well both teams swung the bat. It’s usually a four- or five-hit game with good pitching and good defense. Guys were ready to swing.”
The Saints (14-9) opened the game with four consecutive singles which resulted in runs by Austen Wrinkle and Palmer Berry.
The Cougars (17-6) halved their deficit in the bottom of the first when Michael Chambers led off with a double to centerfield and scored on Prusek’s single, also to center.
With two outs in SC half of the second, Berry stroked a double to centerfield, Conner Lacy followed with a single into the hole at shortstop, Johnson delivered a single to score Berry, and Toney Smith hit a single to score Lacy.
The Cougars scored their six second inning runs on four hits and timely baserunning.
After freshman Corey Elliott drew a one-out walk, designated hitter Grady Seay, an eighth grader, dropped a home run into the woods behind the center field fence.
Newly energized, the Cougars added four more runs when Jake Slater drilled a double off the Green Monster in left field to score Tate Quinby and Chambers, Sam Settar walked with the bases loaded to send Slater home, and Dominic Ivie singled to left to score Prusek.
“We’re a real young team,” Szymendera said. “We have a lot of 10th graders and only three seniors. One of the things we’ve talked about all year is that something bad is going to happen, whether you make errors or they score some runs.
“It’s a long game. You have to be resilient. This was a big growing moment for a lot of our guys once you’re down in the score and keep playing.”
In the SC third, Charlie Blanton walked and ultimately scored on an infield out, and Henry Rotter smacked a single to right and scored on Lacy’s single to center.
Christian Gray drew a walk with one out in the top of the fourth and scored on an error. Berry opened the fifth with a double to right. Courtesy runner Landon Allen replaced him an added the Saints’ eighth run when he raced home from third on an error.
Berry, a sophomore righthander who opened the game at third, moved to the mound in relief in the second, pitched 5.2 innings, allowed two hits, one run, and two walks, and struck out six.
“I was just trying to get ahead in the count early,” Berry said. “When I do that, hitters are guessing about what I’m throwing. I was able to hit spots and do what I wanted to do.”
Berry went 3-for-5 with an RBI, Lacy went 4-for-4 with two RBI, and Johnson went 3-for-5 with three RBI.
“Our coaches preach attacking early and hitting fastballs,” Berry said. “Everybody today was able to have good swings when a fastball came in the zone. Everybody made good swings and had confidence in each other.”
After Prusek’s dinger sent the game into extra innings, the Saints’ scored their final run with two outs in the top of the eighth.
Lacy drew a walk and moved to third on Johnson’s double. Aiden Curtin entered as a pinch runner for Lacy and, with two outs, raced home when Gibson Beck struck out and beat the throw to first after a dropped third strike.
“We have an older team,” said Slater, the Cougars’ coach. “These guys have played a lot of baseball. We gave up hits and runs early. That six-spot was huge, and we had some other opportunities, but at the end of the day, I thought our guys showed some grit in the (batter’s) box.
“I told the guys (that) this can’t define the rest of the week. A break here, a break there didn’t go our way. We have to be mentally tough enough to go home, wash it off in the shower, and move on.”
