Billies down Cobras to advance in regionals
MALVERN — Fountain Lake held a 2-0 lead after four innings, but Monticello managed to hold on to take the 3-2 win and advance to Saturday’s late regional championship game.
After a series of errors allowed the Billies (20-9) to score in the bottom of the sixth, the Cobras (17-7) got runners in the corners in hopes of a two-out rally. Evan East hit a line drive directly to the second baseman to put Fountain Lake in the field.
“It was a big part because, you know, that was their first run up until that point,” Fountain Lake head coach Justin Mcarthur said. “He had probably, I don’t know 10 or 12 extra pitches and turned their lineup over. All those little things really matter like that, because you look at pitch count, just giving them some momentum. That was a big spot in the game.”
With senior Preston Riley working on a complete game, a throwing error to first base allowed Brooks Bowman to reach second base. Brendon Brown hit a bunt to put runners in the corners for the Billies.
A balk by Riley gave Monticello the tying run before Doerian Allen hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Brown and the win.
“These guys, I’m gonna tell you, man, they’ve been resilient all year long,” Billies head coach Scott Johnson said. “And that’s the reason why we’re here because you just keep fighting, just found ways to scrap, claw, a little bunt here, you know, throw strikes. I mean, the ninth-grader I pitched today — wow. Incredible, you know, great job. Everybody that I called their number did their job, and that’s what it takes to win a ballgame.”
While the Billies turned to bunting in the seventh, Mcarthur said that he was surprised to see the team struggle with bunt defense.
“You know, we had the lead all day,” he said. “I felt like we were controlling the game, and bunt defense, we probably work on that more than we work on anything else. We got to the baseball, but we made two bad throws and that’s the difference in the game. You get those two outs, we probably win, but that’s high school baseball. You know, kids have to learn how to bounce back from adversity. That’s honestly what playing sports is all about, and something good could come from this.”
The Cobras picked up their first run in the top of the second.
With one out, East hit a single, advancing to second on a ground-out by Kolt Carden. Riley then hit a single past the second baseman to plate East for the early 1-0 lead.
Fountain Lake’s second run came in the top of the fourth.
After Hayden Cotten was walked to start the inning, he advanced to second on a wild pitch before Carden hit an RBI single with two outs to make it 2-0.
The walk-off win for the Billies was the second for the team in as many days after they took a 5-4 win over Bauxite Friday.
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m on blood pressure medication,” Johnson said. “But, no, it’s a fun win. It’s fun to do it like that, but we definitely want to make it a little bit easier if we can.”
Riley picked up the loss for the Cobras, throwing 6 2/3 innings. He gave up 3 unearned runs off 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7.
The senior pitcher also led the Cobras at the plate with 2 hits and an RBI, Abe Rose, Wesley Campbell, East and Carden each adding a hit. Carden also had an RBI.
Easton Byrd picked up the win in relief for the Billies, doling out 1 hit with a hit batter in a partial inning. Jagger Hines got the start with 2 earned runs off 5 hits, 2 walks and a hit batter while fanning 8 in 6 2/3 innings.
Five Billies got a hit in the game with Allen accounting for the only RBI.