SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - Tyler Mossburg isn't known for his home run power.
Until now.
The junior drilled only his second homer of the season with two out in the top of the ninth inning to lift Silverdale Baptist Academy to a 3-2 win over South Pittsburg in the Region 3-A baseball semifinals Monday night.
"I was just praying they would throw me a pitch I could handle, and now I'm praising the Lord that they did," said Mossburg, who went 1-for-5. "This team has fought all year. We just never give up, and that's how we played tonight."
The Seahawks (18-10) made the most of only four hits and Dylan Bryant, who came on in relief, earned the pitching win.
South Pittsburg twice loaded the bases with no outs and failed to score, including in the home half of the eighth inning. Those blown scoring chances and four errors led to the Pirates being eliminated for a second straight season by the Seahawks at home.
The Pirates were one strike away from maintaining a one-run lead in the sixth, but Silverdale Baptist rallied to tie the game and force extra innings.
"To work our way out of those bases loaded, no out situations twice was huge, obviously," Seahawks coach Jonathan Adcock said. "It seems like every year we play them and go extra innings.
"We're a very scrappy team and have been all season. No matter how much we're down or what the situation, our kids have found a way to respond more often than not. It didn't matter what had happened before that at-bat, Tyler came through big when we needed it."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.