Even though his team was playing on the road, Arts & Sciences junior Zach Phillips felt good about Monday night’s Region 3-A baseball semifinal.

And that was bad news for host Grace Academy.

Besides going 4-for-5 with seven RBIs, Phillips earned the pitching win in relief with 14 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of the Patriots’ 14-3 victory.

“I felt good tonight,” Phillips said. “I was pretty confident before the game. We all did really good. I think we’re peaking at the right time.”

The Patriots (19-16) were forced to play from behind after Grace got an RBI single from Matt Ruebusch in the bottom of the first inning. After a run-scoring double from Heath Wright in the second inning made it 2-0, Arts & Sciences coach Greg Grall made the decision to relieve starter James Dickerson.

Phillips issued a walk to his first batter but struck out eight of the next nine he faced.

“This was a game where there was no choice,” Grall said. “We had to keep ourselves in the game, and luckily for us, Zach was on tonight. He’s just a quality kid. He’s never satisfied. He wants to improve on a daily basis, and he’s done that.”

Grace starter Alec Rose ran into trouble in the third, issuing five walks that helped the Patriots score four runs and claim the lead for good. Phillips had a two-run single in the inning, and Cameron Kapperman drove in a run with a hit.

CSAS added two runs in the fourth but the Golden Eagles trimmed their deficit to 6-3 in the fifth. Two walks and Wallace Foster’s single loaded the bases, and another walk brought in a run before Phillips ended the inning with a strikeout.

“You’ve got to give the Phillips kid a lot of credit,” Grace coach Ruston Pierce said. “He kept us off balance. He was throwing it all over the place, but he threw enough strikes to give us problems. He did an excellent job.”

After a third pitching change for Grace, the Patriots erupted for eight runs in the seventh inning. Dickerson’s two-run single with the bases loaded and Phillips’ grand slam were the big blows.

“I really think we’ve prepared ourselves well for this,” Grall said. “We’ve played a lot of the best teams in the area this season. I know it was tough for the guys to lose some games, but when you play those teams, it builds your character.”

A tough schedule also contributed to Grace finishing the season 15-21, but Pierce believes the experience will pay off for his young team.

“The schedule we played and all the things we went through are going to make these guys stronger for the future,” he said. “This group has a lot of potential.”

n Lookout Valley 13, Silverdale Baptist 2: At Lookout Valley, the Yellow Jackets’ Lance Rorex led the charge with three hits and Cody Brooks had a home run and five RBIs in the semifinal win over the Seahawks. Lookout Valley (32-5) will face CSAS in the championship game Wednesday at 6 p.m.