LEBANON, Tenn. - McCallie sophomore Zach Porter's week at the Spring Fling ended with his team on top of the TSSAA Division II-AA baseball world and his body at the bottom of a celebratory dogpile.
The Blue Tornado catcher wouldn't have had it any other way.
Porter crafted his finest moment when his team needed it the most, turning on a pitch for a walk-off single through the left side of the infield that drove in Nolan Sergeant and Hudson Calhoun as McCallie completed a huge rally to beat Nashville's Lipscomb Academy 14-13 in thrilling fashion in the title round Friday at Wilson Central High School.
It's the third TSSAA baseball state title in McCallie history but the first since 2014 for the Blue Tornado, who won their breakthrough championship in 1976.
"This whole week we were together. We were fighting, we were motivated and everyone was invested," said Porter, who had three hits and four RBIs on Friday, when competition resumed after inclement weather and wet conditions suspended play starting Wednesday night and led to postponements Thursday.
"After the rain delays, we knew we had one more day. We had to stick together as a team and push through one more day. At the end, we are state champions. It's the most amazing feeling in the world."
Lipscomb, after losing 3-0 in Tuesday's opening round to Knoxville Catholic, had avoided elimination by beating Baylor 3-2 and then Knoxville Catholic 11-3. The Mustangs needed to top McCallie twice Friday to win the championship, but they were three outs away from forcing a second game.
McCallie (27-12-1) trailed 13-9 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but No. 3 hole hitter Carter Hewitt, a star all week, stepped up with the biggest home run of the season. The senior first baseman, who is set to play college baseball for Army at West Point, used his right-handed hitting strength to crush a three-run homer to left field with one out in the Blue Tornado's five-run seventh, which was aided when the Mustangs (28-12) mishandled two popups.
"What you saw here today and all week long was an entire team working together to accomplish something special," said Hewitt, who finished the season batting .397 with nine home runs, 20 extra-base hits and 33 RBIs. "There are 14 runs up on that scoreboard, and everyone did their part.
"This was a huge dogfight, and we knew we had to answer every time Lipscomb hit us. We really put the pedal to the metal. This is just crazy and something we will all cherish forever."
Hewitt's homer was followed by back-to-back singles from Sergeant and Calhoun and a walk to Ralston Welch that loaded the bases, setting up Porter.
As the game had worn on and both sides thinned on pitching, McCallie senior relievers Brock Ragsdale and Evan Winnie delivered a combined three scoreless innings from the third through the fifth. Winnie struck out the final batter he faced in his two innings.
Junior starter Ethan Crump reentered in the top of the seventh to record the final two outs and land his fifth win of the season.
"This game got Western pretty quick," Winnie said. "At this point in the Spring Fling anything can happen. Especially when it comes down to pitching. When I went out to the mound, I stepped on the rubber and knew they weren't going to score off me. That's the mentality I reckon. I am just so happy to win the final game of the season."
McCallie finished the season with six straight wins, including state tournament victories against rival Baylor - Tuesday's 3-2 outcome ended the Red Raiders' bid for a fourth straight title - and Knoxville Catholic.
Against Lipscomb, the Blue Tornado allowed three runs in the top of the first, but they answered with four in the bottom half, all with two outs. Calhoun started it with a two-run single down the left-field line, while Welch had an RBI single followed by Porter's RBI double.
Porter also had a tying RBI single in the third, while fellow sophomore J. Michael Pierce had a go-ahead single in the fifth that was followed by senior Jaden Copeland's steal of home as he slid headfirst just ahead of the tag for a 7-5 lead. Sergeant had two hits, including a tying two-run double in the sixth.
Lipscomb scored four runs each in the sixth and seventh but could not put the fire out the Blue Tornado brought all week.
"Normally I don't worry too much, but I was definitely stressed," McCallie coach Tim Costo said. "The weird thing is I had confidence. I really did feel like we were going to put up a fight in that last at-bat. We were hitting the ball all day, and we caught some breaks, too, late.
"I am just so proud of these guys and happy for them, our coaching staff and school. They put so much work in this season. They lifted early in the mornings throughout the preseason and season, and they believed that this was where they would be. To win McCallie's third state championship means everything to our guys."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.