The road to a championship is basically a marathon that is won by the last man standing, and it was no different in the 2016 1A State Baseball Championship Series for the Ethel Tigers. With the series tied at one game each and both teams sporting four runs, nine hits and one error in game three, something had to give, and it did.
With one out and runners at second and third, a Tupelo Christian Prep (TCP) single drove home the winning run and gave the Eagles the Class 1A State title by a final score of 5-4. Ethel appeared poised to have a productive inning in the top of the sixth after Tiger first baseman Tyson Steen led off with a single. Center fielder John Morgan Cummins was hit by a pitch and with just six outs remaining in the contest and down 2-1, the Tigers had given themselves a chance to score with runners at first and second and no outs. One pitch later, that all changed. Cody Weeks attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt but popped it up. The TCP first baseman came charging in and made a diving catch for the out. He then threw to second base where the shortstop tagged second and then threw back to first for the third out after both Ethel base runners had advanced to second and third. Three outs on one pitch appeared to do the Tigers in, and an insurance run from TCP in the bottom of the sixth pushed the score to 3-1 in favor of the Eagles, giving Ethel just three outs to make something happen, and they did.
With two outs and the bases loaded, starting pitcher Hayes Wood hit a two-strike, bases clearing double that scored Daniel McBride, Daquan Mallett and Alex Schuster to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. “We played our hearts out and have nothing to be ashamed of,” said Ethel head coach Chris Schuster. “They gave it their all and left it all out there on the field. Tupelo Christian got one more hit than we did and that was the difference.”
Game one of the series last Tuesday afternoon at Trustmark Park in Pearl saw Tyson Steen draw the start for the Tigers. Steen pitched 5.2 innings and yielded 12 hits, eight runs (seven earned) and three walks while striking out three Eagle batters. Daniel McBride pitched 1.1 innings in the loss and gave up just one hit while walking one and striking out one. The offensive leaders for the Tigers were Blake McKinley with one run scored, Hayes Wood with a double and two singles, Steen with an RBI and John Morgan Cummins with three singles. TCP scored four in the first inning, one in the third, one in the fourth and two in the sixth while the Tigers crossed the plate once in the third.
Blake McKinley took the hill for Ethel in game two on Thursday at Trustmark Park in Pearl. McKinley pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four hits, three runs and five walks while striking out one. Hayes Wood pitched the final 2.2 innings for the Tigers to notch the win by allowing only two hits and no runs while striking out two and walking four. The offensive leaders for the Tigers were McKinley with a single and one RBI, Wood with three runs scored, Steen with two singles and one RBI, Cummins with a single Cody Weeks with an RBI and Alex Schuster with a single and two runs scored. TCP scored two in the first inning and one in the fourth while the Tigers scored one in the first, one in the third, two in the sixth and one in the seventh.
“We have had our backs against the wall for three out of the four playoffs series we’ve been in,” said Schuster. “We just keep finding ways to win; this is a tough group.”
Game three of the series sent Wood to the mound where he pitched six innings, allowing eight hits, five runs (four earned) and a walk while striking out three Eagles. McKinley pitched the final .1 innings and allowed two hits. The offensive leaders for the Tigers were Wood with a double and three RBI; Steen with a double, a single and one run scored; Cummins with a single and an RBI; Weeks with a single; McBride with two singles and one run scored; Daquan Mallett with a single and one run scored and Schuster with a single and one run scored. The Tigers scored one in the first and three in the seventh while TCP scored two in the second, one in the sixth and two in the seventh.
“We have nothing to hang our heads over,” concluded Schuster. “We were just as good as the team that won it, but it just didn’t go our way today. I am proud of the support we had throughout the playoffs and would like to thank all the businesses that supported us as well as the media (newspaper and radio) that covered us. The crowd was incredible at Trustmark and made it feel like a home game.”
The Tigers finished with a 25-10 overall record while TCP finished up at 25-13.
