DALTON, Ga. - Jantzen Calvo could feel the importance of the situation as the Dalton High School senior stood in the batter's box in the ninth inning of a 6-6 baseball game Friday night.
The bases were loaded and two men out as the third baseman fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before lining an outside fastball into right field to give the Catamounts a 7-6 extra-innings win over Allatoona.
The big hit - and the victory - kept Dalton's Region 6-AAAAAA title hopes alive.
"The pressure was definitely on, and we had to get a runner in," Calvo said, knowing the Cats earlier had squandered two late chances to win. "It's a great team win, and now we have to get one more Tuesday."
That's when Dalton (20-6, 12-3) and the Buccaneers (24-3, 11-2) will meet again, this time at Allatoona, in what will be the region finale for the Cats. A win by the Cats would clinch at least a tie for the region championship and would guarantee them of the No. 1 seed by virtue of a sweep of the Bucs.
It helped Dalton's cause Friday when River Ridge defeated Harrison, leaving those teams with three league losses as well with another meeting set Tuesday. The Cats split with both teams.
"We have to take care of business Tuesday first," Dalton coach Rhett Parrott said. "We've got the (region) bye the last week, so the other teams will still be playing and a lot is still to be decided."
Dalton made its intentions known early when it erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring five runs in the bottom of the first against Allatoona ace Kyle Jacobson, with Sam Stepp's two-run single the big hit. Jacobson, a South Carolina recruit and certain early Major League Baseball draftee, gained quick revenge with a tying three-run homer in the third.
He struck again in the fifth after Dalton had taken the lead back on Harrison Norman's RBI single in the third, sending a soaring shot over the left-field fence to make it 6-6. In the eighth, now facing Dalton reliever Maddux Houghton to lead off, Jacobson reluctantly was pitched around.
"Jacobson owned us all night, so when he came up there we wanted to be careful with him, but that put us behind the eight ball," Parrott said.
Sure enough, David Smith followed with a flare to center, putting runners at first and third with no one out. Houghton, though, struck out Skylar McPhee before Ben Wortham missed a squeeze bunt attempt, with Dalton catcher J.P. Tighe tagging Jacobson out. Houghton ended the threat by striking out Wortham.
In the ninth, after the Cats left two more runners on in the previous inning, Cole Shelton led off with a single and Tighe walked. After Harrison Norman's sacrifice bunt and intentional walk to Stepp to load the bases, Bucs reliever Kyle Riechert struck out Thomas Wright before Calvo's game-ending heroics.
"That's a great moment for Jantzen," Parrott said. "He's had some big games for us, and as the season has gone he's gotten better and better. He took a great approach in that at-bat and took the ball the other way.
"This is one game we had to have."
Stepp had three of Dalton's 12 hits, with Shelton and Calvo adding two each.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.