Miracle at Marist: Troup baseball uses late game surge and a walk off by Will Keeter to force game 3
Published 11:07 pm Tuesday, May 3, 2022
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Troup County baseball split games 1 and 2 of its round of 16 series against reigning AAAA state champions Marist Tuesday night. Both games featured dramatic comebacks and were filled to the brim with late-game heroics.
The first game saw the Tigers fall 5-2 as the War Eagles used a four run fifth inning to come back and win the game.
Troup actually stuck the first blow in the game as Brett Haynes hit a RBI double in the top of the second inning.
The War Eagles promptly tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning.
The Tigers were able to regain the lead with a Brett Haynes RBI single in the top of the fourth inning.
Marist pushed across four runs in the fifth inning and the Tigers were not able to put up a rally with their six remaining outs.
It was Haynes that stole the show for the Tigers in the first game as he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Josh Mcdonald had a solid day as well as he went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Ty Medders had the other multi-hit game for Troup with a 2-for-4 game.
The second game was full of late drama as the Tigers used a five-run seventh inning to tie the game and keep their season alive before a Will Keeter walk-off single gave them an 11-10 win.
Marist started the game on the front foot with a run in the top of the second and third innings respectively.
The Tigers stuck back with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Reed Morris hit a RBI single to get the action rolling and the Tigers added an additional two runs on an error to make it a 3-2 game.
The Tigers stretched their lead out to two when Medders hit a RBI double to drive in a run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Reed Morris homered on a ball to left field to give the Tigers another run to their rally in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The War Eagles exploded for seven runs in the top of the sixth inning and added an additional one in the seventh to take a 10-5 lead. The Tigers were down but not out.
With three outs remaining and their backs against the wall, the Tigers offense delivered to extend their season. Reed Morris got the scoring started in the innings with a RBI double. Mason Atkinson delivered an RBI single in the next at bat to cut the lead down to 10-7. A Fisher Baltzell RBI single and an additional two runners scored on an error and all of a sudden it was a tied ballgame. The Tigers had a runner called out running to home but could not manage the walk off at the end of regulation.
The walk-off would have to wait until the bottom of the eighth when Keeter stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second and one out. He hit a season saving RBI single to win the game and keep the Tigers playoff run alive.
The hero, Keeter, went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and a run scored. Morris had a monster day once again as he went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Morris is now up to ten RBIs in the playoffs so far (in four games played). Haynes delivered in game two as well as he went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Atkinson had the other big gamer offensively as he went 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored.
The Tigers will play in game three on Wednesday at Marist with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals of the playoffs.