Hayden Meadows went hitless in two official at-bats, but Boyd-Buchanan’s designated hitter turned an eight-pitch plate appearance into a walk that ignited a two-out rally propelling the Buccaneers to a Region 3-A semifinal victory over South Pittsburg.
“That was a great at-bat, especially with two outs,” offensive hero Andrew Crowe said following the Buccaneers’ 9-5 decision Monday.
The win put them in Wednesday’s Region 3-A championship game at Lookout Valley, which beat Grace Academy 9-2.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning, Meadows worked South Pittsburg starter Jacob Toney to a full count and managed to foul off a couple of pitches with a 3-2 count. His walk broke the tie and Jess Smith got hit by a pitch for another run before Zack Allen lined a two-run single to right field.
The Bucs jumped to a 2-0 lead on second-inning singles by Tyler Garner and Smith and made it 5-0 on a two-run home run to left field from Trey McCalla and Crowe’s solo blast to right-center in the third.
“I’m really not used to hitting with anybody on base, because Trey bats in front of me,” Crowe said.
South Pittsburg tied the game at 5 in the fourth, beginning with a single and walks to four of the next five batters, which scored three runs.
“Matthew Crowe has been outstanding for us all year, and this is really the first time he’s had trouble with walks,” Bucs coach Steve Robbins said.
Jake Stone then delivered a two-run double to left off reliever and eventual winner Tyler Garner, and the damage might have been worse if McCalla hadn’t cut down a Pirate at the plate.
“South Pittsburg was everything we were told they were,” Robbins said. “I was impressed with their grit. They kept coming and both of their pitchers (Toney and Matt Allen) did a good job. It was scary because it seemed like they had runners on base every inning.”