Baseball: Wolves rally for Region 7-AAAAA win over Cass

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Key at bats and a big-time relief performance from Jacob Harrell powered the Rome Wolves past Cass on Wednesday night 7-6 in a Region 7-AAAAA game.

Trailing 6-5 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Rome needed some baserunners and some runs.

Jacob Harrell led off the inning and reached first after getting hit by a pitch. Connor Chandler came on as Harrell’s courtesy runner because the junior was pitching in relief of starter Josh Perkins.

Harrison Pyle laid down a nice sacrifice bunt, moving Chandler to second base. Freshman Chandler Bridges came on to pinch hit and delivered a clutch RBI single to centerfield, scoring Chandler and tying the game at 6.

“We knew their guy wasn’t going to throw it by us. As the game got longer, we started getting the timing down and came through,” Rome coach Michael Dougherty said. “Connor Chandler came up with a huge hit for us to score the tying run.”

Cass looked ready to retake the lead when the first batter in the top of the seventh inning slammed a solid shot to center field.

Rome center fielder Zach Cook turned at once and managed to make a nice running catch, keeping the Colonels from getting a base hit.

Harrell struck out the next batter, hit the batter after that and then struck out the final batter to keep the score tied.

In the bottom of the seventh, Evan Mather crushed a one-out triple to center field, giving the Wolves a great chance to grab the win.

Kyle Garrard then drew a walk, as did Connor Reed. Harrell then walked to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded, after a Rome fly out.

Cass brought in a different pitcher once the bases were loaded, but Harrell stayed steady at the plate. When the 3-2 pitch was high and outside, he trotted down to first base, while Mather ran home with the game-winning run.

“We’ve been on a three-game skid. This is my 15th year. I’ve never been in a situation where all nine, 10 or 11 of our bats have all gone completely dead,” Dougherty said. “I told them before the game it wasn’t going to be easy, and that we were going to have to play a near perfect game which we didn’t. But we battled and managed to get the win.”

While the game ended in dramatic fashion, the Wolves appeared to be in firm control after a great first inning.

Cook started things off with an infield single and advanced to third base when Alan Loveman ripped a double to left field. Mather reached base when he was hit by the pitcher, loading the bases.

The next batter, Reed, had his hit glance off the pitcher’s glove allowing him to reach first base and Cook to score. Dylan Beasley then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Loveman and handing Rome a 2-0 lead.

Mather came home to score on a wild pitch, and Reed scored on a passed ball, giving Rome a 4-0 lead.

Perkins walked and Chandler, serving as his courtesy runner because Perkins was the starting pitcher, stole second base before coming home on an error, handing the Wolves a 5-0 advantage.

The Colonels’ offense managed to get going in the third inning, plating three runs on two hits and a costly Rome error.

Cass added three more runs in the top of the fourth inning as two hits and two Rome errors helped the Colonels plate three more runs to take a 6-5 lead.

Harrell came on in relief of Perkins in the fourth inning and managed to escape without any more damage being done. The junior pitched solid over the next 3 1-3 innings.

He allowed only two hits and walked one batter while striking out five. More importantly, the Colonels failed to score once Harrell reached the mound. Harrell picked up the win in the relief effort.

“Jacob won a lot of games for us last year. He has been our game three starter. I had a lot of confidence going with him out of the pen,” Dougherty said. “The term bulldog is a term I would use for him every time. He comes out and battles. He gave us a chance to win when we went to him. He put a bunch of zeros up on the board.”

Rome (6-3, 2-3) plays Cass on Friday at Cass with a chance to win the three-game series.

“Hopefully, this win will build confidence for us. The first couple of games we were swinging the bats one through 12. Then we fell apart,” Dougherty said. “We’ve got high expectations and we weren’t living up to it the last three games. We’ve got a chance to take the series on Friday, and that’s what we’re here for. We want to win the series.”

Jim Alred is the Sports Editor for the Rome News-Tribune.

Source: Rome News

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