Dulaney’s home run in 9th gives Darlington 1-0 victory over Model over the weekend
From Staff Reports
For eight and a half innings, Darlington and Model battled to a scoreless tie, with only one hit on the board. But with one swing of the bat from Burton Dulaney to open the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers grabbed a 1-0 win over the Blue Devils at Darlington on Saturday afternoon with Dulaney’s walk-off home run.
The senior cranked a shot into right field, and by the time he reached first base he knew he’d delivered the game-winning hit.
“I wasn’t trying to hit a home run,” Dulaney said. “It kept carrying, and when I got to first base I knew it was gone and it felt great. Probably the best moment of baseball in my high school career.”
It was the only hit the Tigers tallied the entire game, but it was the most important.
“Burton has come through time and time again with game-winning hits,” Darlington head coach Kent Harrison said. “If you’re going to have one hit, it might as well be a homer.”
With only one
hit apiece for both squads, all the praise went to the pitchers.
Through eight innings, Darlington’s Jay Shadday and Model’s River Brannon went back and forth on the mound and up until Dulaney’s home run, only Shadday had allowed a hit all game.
Shadday finished with eight strikeouts, while Brannon struck out five of his own.
“It was an unbelievable game. Ten years of high school baseball and I’m not sure I’ve seen two performances that would match that,” Harrison said. “Both kids commanded the zone the whole day, mixed their pitches well, and the defenses behind them were excellent.”
Shadday and the Darlington defense stymied a Model team that was aggressive at the plate all game.
In the third inning, the Tigers caught Model’s Hayden Brooks stealing second, and Shadday struck out the final two batters to end the inning. Even with a couple of errors opening up Model for a potential score in the top of the ninth, Shadday got a batter to strike out swinging to end the threat and open the door for the Darlington victory.
While Shadday earned the win and excelled more and more as the game progressed, Model’s Brannon pitched flawlessly up until the final at-bat of the game.
Twice, Darlington threatened to score with runners in scoring position — once in the third and once in the seventh — and both times Brannon closed the inning out with big pitches.
“River threw a heck of a game,” Model head coach Brett White said. “He threw all three of his pitches for strikes, and he pitched out of some tough spots. It’s a shame to see a kid pitch that well and get soured with a loss. He made one mistake right there at the end — he had a no-hitter up until that point and one swing of the bat, ballgame over and no-hitter gone.”
With the game on the line in the seventh, both teams had great chances to score. But defense again ruled the day and neither team could score the winning run.
Model’s Trey Leonard delivered the first hit of the game — a single — to give life to the Blue Devil offense in the top of the seventh. But the Tigers caught Leonard stealing and followed that up with two straight outs.
In the bottom of the seventh, it was Model’s turn to thwart Darlington’s best chance to win in regulation.
Following two walks, Darlington’s Seth Little reached first on an error to load the bases. And with only one out, Model catcher Kyler Eldridge tagged Darlington’s Drake Frix in between third and home to squash the threat.
“We dodged a bullet right there,” White said. “We ran a little pickoff play and caught them at third, and that was a huge momentum booster right there. I really thought we were going to come in and put up some runs, but it didn’t happen.”
With two outs, Model shortstop Brody Wofford snagged a line drive from Kane Popham to end the inning and send the game into extras.
Darlington’s defense didn’t give Model any breathing room in the eighth with three straight outs, but the Blue Devils had their final shot to win in the top of the ninth.
Luckily for the Tigers, Shadday stranded runners on second and third with his final strikeout of the contest after a couple of errors allowed Blue Devils to reach.
“Never for a second have I doubted my defense all year,” Darlington pitcher Jay Shadday said. “It’s pretty easy to pitch games like that when you’ve got your defense backing you up out there.”
“In a 1-0 ball game, pitching is a huge part of it, but you’ve got to have a good defense,” Harrison said. “I thought our defense did an excellent job behind him (Shadday) which gave him more confidence, and Jay was able to work ahead in the count. Nine innings, didn’t even throw 100 pitches. I couldn’t be more proud of him. He’s a fierce competitor, and I had no doubt he’d help us find a way to win.”
With the win, Darlington stays ahead of Model in Region 7-AA with a record of 8-1 and an overall record of 14-4. The Tigers look to avenge their only region loss of the season Tuesday when Darlington hosts Dade County at 5 p.m. The Wolverines grabbed an 87 victory over the Tigers last Wednesday.
Model (6-9, 5-3) stays in second in the region and plays Calhoun in a nonregion contest Monday at 5:30 p.m.