ZEBULON — The start for Pike County could not have been more shaky in the Class AA quarterfinals Tuesday. The Pirates surrendered 20 hits, including seven home runs, in an 18-4 loss to visiting Blessed Trinity, squandering an early 4-0 lead.
But in the nightcap, the Pirates (27-5) bounced back, getting home runs from Blake Edwards, Kody Adams and Chris Long to win 5-4, forcing a deciding third game, which will start at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Pike’s Jonathan Norton scored the winning run on a balk in the sixth inning
Blessed Trinity (24-9) led 4-2 after scoring three runs in the first and another in the second, but then Pike starter Drew Watkins settled in, holding the Titans scoreless over the final five frames, coaxing eight ground-ball outs and striking out the side in the seventh.
“I wasn’t hitting my spots in the first inning, wasn’t making good pitches,” Watkins said. “We didn’t play good in the first game, and we had to do something in the second.”
In the first game, Titans senior right-hander Brett Marks walked Pike County leadoff hitter Jereid Woods, gave up singles to Edwards and Adams to load the bases then surrendered a grand slam to Long.
Then he turned off the short-term memory.
“I wasn’t worried at all,” Marks said. “I knew we could hit the ball.”
Indeed, the Titans made every mistake hurt and belted seven home runs, taking the first game of the doubleheader 18-4. Blessed Trinity, which ended Pike’s 25-game winning streak, pounded out 20 hits, and delivered the exclamation point with a nine-run, nine-hit seventh inning.
Still, there was that first inning.
“I was just trying to get to the next one,” said Marks, who allowed just three hits over the final six innings and finished with eight strikeouts.
The Titans bounced back in the top of the second, when Jeff Sidlovsky belted a three-run homer to pull within a run, and Conner Dwyer’s solo shot in the fourth tied the score.
Sophomore first baseman Nathaniel Maggio belted the first of his two homers in the fifth to give Blessed Trinity the lead for good.
“I just got the pitch and had a good approach,” Maggio said. “It felt pretty good. We’re used to playing those tight games and seeing good pitching.”
A three-run shot in the sixth by Matt Kinney made the score 9-4, and Sidlovsky, Maggio and Dwyer all homered in the seventh to bury Pike.
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