Columbus rallies from six runs down

Columbus overcame a six-run deficit as the Blue Devils advanced to the second round of the Class 5A state tournament with a 10-9 victory over McIntosh Saturday afternoon at Randy Jordan Field.

“I was trying not to have a heart attack,” Columbus coach Chad Mathis said. “To me it was frustrating because after we scored one in the first, we give up seven runs in the first two innings and none of them were earned.”

“We miss a fly ball in right and have a passed ball on a strikeout in the same inning and they score four. Then we make an error on what would have been the third out in the next inning and they score three more.

“This was a ‘do or die game,’ … how we responded to that adversity was key,” Mathis said.

The Blue Devils started the comeback with a pair of runs in the third. Jack Copley singled in the first rund scored the second one on a Jackson Mellenberg ground out.

But the big inning for Columbus was the fourth where they scored five runs to take an 8-7 lead.

Blake Hicks drew a two-out, bases loaded walk, then Copley hit the fence with a double that drove in three and tied the game at 7-7.

Copley later scored when the Chiefs lost a Mellenberg pop-up in the sun for an 8-7 lead.

“… Copley’s bases-loaded double was a huge hit in that inning,” Mathis said.

The score remained that way until the seventh when Columbus scored what turned out to be huge runs. Jerrette Lee singled and scored on Austin Foster’s double. Foster scored on an error later in the inning for a 10-7 lead.

Mellenberg started and pitched three innings. He got the win after Columbus took the lead in the top of the fourth.

He was was relieved by Trent Grantham, who finished the final four innings and captured the save.

“We did not make plays behind Mellenburg today, and he pitched better than the score indicated,” Mathis said.

Grantham pitched three innings of hitless ball before giving up two hits and two runs in the final inning.

“My arm felt good today, better than yesterday, and I had seniors playing behind me that I knew could make plays,” Grantham said.

Columbus will now travel to Allatoona for the second round. That series is scheduled to start on Wednesday.

This story was originally published April 30, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Columbus rallies from six runs down."