HARTSVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA – After he helped lead Saint Ignatius past Hartsville in the second round of the prestigious Southeastern Baseball Classic, junior right fielder Neal Jacobs emphasized that there is a “great chemistry” among the 2010 Wildcats, that he and his teammates can just sense it.
Chemistry, talent and a will to succeed.
It all came to the fore in Jimmy White Park late Thursday night as the 'Cats rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and defeated a talented Hartsville team, 3-2.
With the victory, Saint Ignatius improved to 2-0 in the Classic and 5-0 overall. They will face Hedgesville from West Virginia in Friday's third-round action at 1:15 p.m.
The Red Foxes from Hartsville, who got an outstanding effort from senior left-hander David Leeth, lost for just the third time in 15 games this spring.
“Coach (Frank) Russo was telling me to bear down, that he ( Leeth) was going to throw me fastballs and that I was going to hit them,” Jacobs said after he followed a walk to junior designated hitter Tyler Kette by driving a single through the left side of the infield, an effort that put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh. “So I just had to shorten my swing up. You do what you have to do.”
What Jacobs' clutch hit did was force Hartsville to go to their bullpen and Red Foxes young reliever Connor Johnson walked into a pressure cooker.
Junior catcher Cory Finkler loaded the bases by drawing a walk and then made a hard-nosed, but clean slide at second base that not only broke up a potential game-ending double play, but also brought home the tying run.
After junior left fielder Joe Greco drew a walk to load the bases again, senior center fielder and tri-captain Kevin Hopkins appeared to be hit by a pitch that would have forced in the winning run. However, the home plate umpire ruled that Hopkins made no attempt to get out of the way of the inside pitch and pinch runner Kory Gillissie had to go back to third base.
Just seconds later, Johnson uncorked a wild pitch, Gillissie raced across home plate and the celebration was on.
“With the bench cheering like they did, I mean that's the greatest feeling ever,” Jacobs said. “You know you have your boys behind you.”
A group of players who seem to have a knack for picking each other up, the Wildcats rode a strong pitching performance by senior right-hander Mike Burke, a double by Kette, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Jacobs to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.
It stayed that way until the top of the fourth, when Hartsville gave its home-town crowd something to cheer about.The Red Foxes, who were playing on their home field, tied the score on a two-base error, a base hit by senior catcher Seth Lowe and a fielder's choice.
Hartsville's faithful were hooting and hollering after the Red Foxes, courtesy of a double by senior infielder Adam Peterson, a sacrifice bunt by junior infielder Cody Mincey and a passed ball, took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh.
The momentum the locals created was short-lived, however, as the 'Cats kept their poise and came up with what head coach Brad Ganor described as one of the biggest victories in Saint Ignatius' highly successful baseball history.
Senior right-hander Brian Lehto picked up the victory in relief of Burke, whose six-plus innings of impressive work included five hits and no earned runs.
“A little bit of everything, it was awesome,” said Burke, when asked what emotions he was experiencing as he watched his teammates rally in the bottom of the seventh. A University of Buffalo recruit, Burke set a school record by batting .573 last season and added a double to his contributions on Thursday night.
“This was probably the most fun I had pitching,” Burke continued. “A lot of credit goes to Coach Donovan (Wildcats pitching coach T.J. Donovan). I have never been so prepared. He's very smart and knows what he is doing. So a lot of credit goes to him.
“I wasn't blowing hitters away with my fastball. My off-speed curveball and change-up allowed me to get a lot of guys to ground out or pop up.”
Coach Ganor emphasized how impressive it was to watch Burke, a part-time pitcher and a full-time infielder, control “a very good Hartsville team.”
The Wildcats' skipper also pointed to his team's defensive effort, which included two clutch plays by junior second baseman Colin Gallagher in the top of the sixth.