McCallie tops Baylor for state baseball trip

Of the six baseball games Baylor and McCallie played this year, Baylor’s Red Raiders won four, including a three-game sweep in ultra-wintry conditions to open the season.

It was McCallie slightly more than two months later, though, that began peaking along with the thermometer. And the Blue Tornado on Thursday won the deciding game 12-6 of a best-two-of-three Division II-AA state quarterfinal series against the Raiders.

“We’re a completely different team that what we were back in March. We are definitely hitting our stride. I’m not saying we’re a great team, but this is where we are,” said Tim Costo, who took over the Blue Tornado program this year.

“At the beginning of the season it was rough, but we worked hard and trusted the process, and obviously it’s working. We’ve improved a whole lot,” added Belmont signee John Behrends, who got the pitching win with four innings of quality relief work.

The win propelled McCallie into next week’s four-team Division II state tournament at Wilson Central.

Baylor had nowhere near its best day. The Red Raiders committed six errors and struggled to come up with payday-type pitches in crucial situations.

“The kids have battled all year and had earned the right to be the (postseason tournament) No. 2 seed,” Baylor coach Billy Berry said. “It just didn’t go our way. It wasn’t a lack of effort or passion. You don’t know how hard these kids have worked, and I’m disappointed for them. I did a bad job tonight. I needed to put our kids in a better situation, and that’s what I’ll go to bed with.”

Berry shouldered the blame, but his players’ miscues — mental in addition to the physical — contributed greatly to their demise.

Through two innings, Baylor pitcher Wilson Maclellan was down 2-1 without giving up a hit, because of two errors. And the damage he suffered in McCallie’s seven-run third inning could have been limited to three runs if not for two other errors.

The Blue Tornado took advantage of opportunities, coupling the Baylor third-inning misplays with timely hits, including two-run singles from Chad Marsh and Cameron Costo.

Baylor sliced into the 9-1 margin with a four-spot in the third before Behrends entered the game, nipped the rally and limited the Red Raiders to one run the rest of the way.

Behrends also was 2-for-3 as one of four Tornado players with two hits — joining Costo, Jackson Mathis and Dane Beard. Costo produced three RBIs.

Gunnar Ricketts and Cam Wolfe led Baylor with two hits apiece, Ricketts getting a triple and Wolfe a double.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.