Sports

Backs against the wall, Part II

• Westwood rallies to tie in the top of the seventh, but Flint River scores one run in the bottom of the inning to win Game 1 of the GISA Class A state title series.

Scott Chancey

WOODBURY — Westwood School pitcher Clark Phelps faced a hill almost as big as the nearby Warm Springs mountains in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday in Game 1 of the GISA Class A State Championship series against Flint River Academy.

While his team hung on for dear life with one out — the score tied at 4-4 and the bases loaded — Phelps battled to a full count with Drew Fordham and struck him out. The next hitter, Zach Elliott, took him to the limit yet again. The deciding pitch, however, was deemed just high by the umpire and Ethan Strickland scored on a walk, giving Flint River a 5-4 win and 1-0 series lead Friday in the best-of-three Class A Finals.

It was an anti-climactic finish to a drama-filled 1 1⁄2 innings where Flint River capitalized on two errors and scored three runs for a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Westwood, however, responded with three runs of its own in the top of the seventh to tie the score and force the home team, Flint River, to win on its final at-bat.

“Our kids just never gave up,” said Timmerman, whose team is 14-10, including a 6-2 mark in the playoffs. “That just means we get to play two (today).”

Game 2 is at noon today, with the third and deciding game, if necessary, following immediately afterwards.

Friday’s game, after both teams scored a run in the first, was a pitcher’s duel between Phelps and Flint River’s Jay Hamlett, who both hurled complete games. Phelps struck out eight batters and allowed four hits, and Hamlett allowed four hits, striking out seven.

“That’s kind of been his average this year on strikeouts, that’s pretty good,” Timmerman said of Phelps. “He’s carried us all year long. His ERA is right there at 1 or 1.5, and he’s just done the job for us all year long. We just ran into a bit of a difficulty (Friday). We’ve still got three innings in him so we’ll use him if we have to.”

An unlikely, yet costly error in the bottom of the sixth helped Flint River build its three-run lead. Westwood left fielder Brandon Johnson, without his sunglasses, lost track of a fly ball by Fordham because of the sun’s glare with two outs and no one on base.

“The sun had never gotten to me in the past in left,” Johnson said. “(But) the sun got to me and I looked at teammates to point me to where the ball was going.”

Fordham’s fly ball landed well in front of him, enabling him to reach second. Elliott then grounded to third baseman Michael Sullivan, whose throw toward first was high enough to take Ty Blackburn off the bag.

Fordham then ran toward home while no one covered the plate and scored, giving Flint River a 2-1 lead. Matt Montgomery then walked, stole second, and he and Elliott scored on a two-run Dallas Gibson double to right for the 4-1 lead.

After a pep talk by Timmerman, using the Jim Valvano mantra, “Don’t Ever give up,” Westwood began a rally of its own. Sullivan singled to right, and Andrew Adams and Brett Shiver drew walks, loading the bases. Jake Edore hit a two-run single and then — thanks to some nifty base running — enabled the third run to score. After Flint River was late throwing the ball home to get Adams out as he scored the inning’s second run, Edore ran toward second and Fordham, at catcher, took the bait. Instead of holding Shiver at third, Fordham threw to second, getting Edore out for the inning’s second out while Shiver scored and tied the game at 4.

“I didn’t think he would throw it with a man on third,” Edore said. “It just happened that way.”

Before the teams’ rallies, Westwood scored its first run when Montgomery misplayed a Tyler Thompson grounder, scoring Shiver in the top of the first. Flint River tied the game in the bottom half with a homer to right by Chet Harris.

After the two teams’ rallies, Flint River began its game-winning rally with a bloop to center by Ethan Strickland, who stole second and advanced to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Trent Bishop. Facing Harris, the No. 3 hitter, again and then Cam Short, Westwood elected to walk them in hopes of inducing a double-play ground ball with one out to end the inning.

Things did not turn out the way as planned when Elliott drew the game-winning walk.

“Their coaches thought it was a ball and we thought it was a strike,” Timmerman laughed. “That’s what was called, though, and we’ve got to go with it.”

Westwood, nonetheless, still likes where it stands.

“I don’t think they expected this,” Johnson said of Flint River. “We’re a team to be reckoned with, and everybody realizes that now.”

TODAY’S GAME 2 STARTER

Shiver will start the second game, and he has come through on more than one occasion for Westwood. He won three track titles (110 and 300 hurdles, long jump), and was on the football team (semifinals) and basketball team (second round). The football and basketball teams were eliminated in the playoffs by none other than Flint River.

Shiver has the most confidence in his fastball, which is usually clocked at 86 mph. On Friday, however, he saw a weakness in Flint River’s lineup against curveballs. Shiver, despite that observation, may not throw as many curveballs as one might think.

“Whenever I feel comfortable, I’ll throw it, usually if I’m ahead in the count (0-2, 1-2) or if it’s at the bottom of their order,” Shiver said.

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