A.C. Flora edges Eastside in high school baseball
Three-time defending Class 3A champion A.C. Flora had an unlikely combination provide the winning run in a wild 6-5, extra inning affair over Eastside on Friday night to win the District 4 title.
Sophomore Johnnie Hernandez delivered a two-strike, two-out single to left field to score eighth-grader Leighton Long from second base with the winning run in ninth inning.
“We have a theory that is you’re in uniform in the dugout, that means I believe you can play,” A.C. Flora coach Andy Hallett said. “We believe our kids are tough. If you’re in the eighth grade or 12th grade, our expectations are the same for you.”
The bottom of the ninth inning started with two quick outs on fly balls to the outfield before Long punched a single through on a 3-2 count. Will Loving walked to advance Long to second to set the stage for Hernandez. The left-handed hitting designated hitter went the opposite way and Long never hesitated in scoring.
“You don’t ever anticipate those are the two guys that are going to win the game for you,” Hallett said. “Johnnie had good at-bats all night long and to his testament, he fights with two strikes and flares one down the line. Leighton could run a little bit so we wound up with the game-winning RBI with two JV starters.”
The Falcons (18-9) advance to the Upper State championship series and will host top-ranked Belton-Honea Path at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Chapin and Camden, two Region 4-3A rivals of A.C. Flora, will play in the other half of the bracket.
Hallett has been looking for an opportunity to give Hernandez more chances. He’s been swinging the bat well of late, and an injury to Lane Botkin on Monday allowed Hallett to shuffle his line-up.
“We watched him swing the last couple of days and there was no doubt we had to roll with this kid right here,” Hallett said. “He’s running balls over the fence, off the wall in batting practice, so we had to give him a chance.”
Eastside (16-10) forced extra frames when they rallied from a three-run deficit with two outs in seventh. Will Thorpe, Brison Williams and Graham Mitchell each delivered an RBI single to keep the Eaglse alive.
A.C. Flora senior Donald Gillespie relieved Will Taks after the final RBI hit and got a fly ball to center to end the threat.
Gillespie pitched the final 21/3 innings to improve to 3-0 on the season. He allowed two baserunners in each of the eighth and ninth innings, but kept Eastside off the scoreboard.
“Without the relief pitching of Donald and the stuff we did to hang on, we don’t have a chance to win the game on a base hit in the ninth,” Hallett said.
A.C. Flora got a stellar starting performance from Blake Loggins. He allowed three hits in six innings and allowed two unearned runs with two strikeouts and a walk.
Josh Hernandez continued his hot hitting in the playoffs with two-run home run in the sixth inning.
It’s the third home run of the postseason for the junior after he hit one during the regular season.
W: Gillespie (3-0) L: Harrison. Hitters: (ACF) Josh Hernandez HR; Johnny Hernandez 2-5; Bailey Mathews 2-4. (E) Will Thorpe 2-5; Eric Marsh 2-4.
This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 11:59 PM with the headline "A.C. Flora edges Eastside in high school baseball."