The Caldwell County Tigers were just inches, mere inches away from pulling off a 7th inning rally to advance to the semifinals of the All A state baseball tournament. After trailing Somerset 2-0, they had rallied to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 6th inning. Now, here they were in the 7th inning, with two outs, bases loaded, with the winning run on second base.
And to top it off, Noah Brown had hit the ball to right field. It appeared to be moving away from right fielder Alex Ham. At some point during his pursuit of the ball, the Somerset right fielder decided he had to dive to try and make the catch. The decision is an all or nothing decision. Once Ham makes the decision to dive, he either makes the catch and saves the day for the Briar Jumpers, or the ball gets down, gets by him, and Caldwell County wins in walkoff fashion.
The Tigers were mere inches from advancing.
Ham left his feet. His glove found the ball. As he hits the ground and rolls over, both fan bases are holding their breaths and yelling at the same time. Somerset fans are praying that the ball stays in his glove. Caldwell County fans are praying that somehow, when Ham stands up, the ball is on the green turf of Whitaker Bank Ballpark.
The Tigers were mere inches from advancing.
Ham’s spectacular catch ended a pulsating finish to a thrilling game, and left the Tigers wondering what might have been, as Somerset held on for the 2-1 win.
The two pitchers, Caldwell County senior Shane Burns and Somerset freshman Kade Grundy dominated the early innings of the game. Burns struck out seven of the first nine outs of the game. Grundy held the Tigers without a hit for the first four innings.
Somerset finally got on the board first, stringing together a walk, a triple, and a single against Burns to plate two runs in the top of the 4th inning. The game would stay at 2-0 until the bottom of the 6th inning.
In the bottom of the 6th, Gabe East came up with a 2-out single. Jase Felker then doubled to centerfield, scoring East and cutting the lead to 2-1, and setting up the wild finish in the bottom of the 7th.
After Burns set the Briar Jumpers down in order in the top of the 7th, the Tigers made their last ditch run to try and take the game.
Somerset brought in sidearm hurler John Debord to try and finish the Tigers off. Debord promtly hit the first batter he faced, Shane Burns, to start the bottom of the 7th. Bryce Thomas then popped up for the first out in the bottom of the 7th. Oliver Parker drew a walk, and suddenly the Tigers had the winning run on base, and just one out.
Debord took a big step in the inning when he struck out Tate VanHooser for the second out. The game looked to be over when John Davis hit a grounder. However, Somerset misplayed the ball, and the Tigers had the bases loaded, setting up Ham’s heroics to win the game.
Jase Felker was 1-2 with an RBI for the Tigers. The Tigers other two hits came from Shane Burns and Gabe East.
Burns had another great outing for Caldwell County, allowing only the two runs on five hits, striking out ten and walking only two. His counterpart Kade Grundy went six innings, giving up one run on three hits, striking out ten and walking two.
In the end the Tigers were “that close” to moving on to the semifinals. Mere inches close.
