Trailing 6-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, it looked like Marissa-Coulterville’s run for a third straight appearance at the 1A state baseball tournament was over.
No one told the Meteors that, as they rallied to score five runs to edge out Okawville 7-6 to win the Okawville Regional title Tuesday.
“I told the guys before we batted in the seventh inning that teams are coming back and rallying late to win games this postseason,” said Marissa-Coulterville coach Jason Smith. “ I told the guys it is possible to come back and win this game. We didn’t give away any at-bats in the seventh inning and fought for everything. This team kept battling until it was over. This is a very confident group and they believe in themselves and their teammates. They weren’t going to quit.”
Elijah Burton led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Justin Lohman picked up the first out of the inning by striking out Cody Mahan to bring up Casey Pitchford. However, after his second pitch to the senior, Lohman dropped to the ground holding his elbow. Lohman was taken from the game and would not return. Okawville brought in their number two pitcher Kurt Wilke to try and finish the game.
“My stomach is upset for those guys over there and for Justin Lohman in particular,” added Smith. “He's one of the best competitors in our area and has been for the last three years.”
Pitchford followed with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-3. David Parkinson drew a walk followed by a flyout from Logan Tabor. Kevin Galle picked up a two-out walk to load the bases for Brett Gilley.
Gilley was down to his final strike when he blasted a single to score two runs and bring his team to within one, 6-5.
“Gilley has really been amazing this year,” said Smith. “He is a senior that didn’t start until this year, but he kept with the program and worked his tail off. He has been red hot lately.”
Kyle Sinn came to the plate in the pressure packed situation and waited his way to a full-count. On the next pitch, Sinn hit a hard grounder into the hole between first and second base. Okawville second baseman Travis Blumhorst was able to get to the ball but slipped as he tried to throw the ball and his throw went wide as two Meteor runners scored to end the game.
“Kyle got a good swing on the ball and placed it in a tough spot,” said Smith. “Even if that kid makes a good throw, I think we still tie the game because (Sinn) got him so far deep in the hole. He just caught a bad break when he slipped and threw it away. That's baseball, it's a lot of little things here and there that can change the outcome.”
Sophomore Logan Tabor earned the win as he came in to pitch in the second inning and allowed just one hit and four unearned runs the rest of the way.
“Logan was just phenomenal,” Smith said. “He was locating today using all three pitches. He threw his changeup early for strikes and I think that got them on their heels a little bit.”
Okawville opened up the scoring in the top of the first inning with a two-run homer in the first by Brian Buss against Meteors starter Chris Fullerton.
The Rockets added another run in the second on two Marissa-Coulterville errors.
Marissa-Coulterville battled back in the third scoring two runs on two hits and an error. Tabor picked up the two RBI with a two-out double to left-center field.
Okawville looked to have put the game away in the top of the seventh scoring three runs on a hit and two errors.
But instead, Marissa-Coulterville will begin play in its own sectional Thursday against Carrier Mills-Stonefort (23-3)) at 4:30 p.m.
With the win, the Meteors claimed their third consecutive regional title and improved to 27-6 on the season.