Northside one win from Region 1-5A title

Northside High manufactured a run in the top of the ninth inning without the benefit of a hit and moved one win away from winning the Region 1-5A championship with a 5-4 victory over Columbus at Randy Jordan Field on Thursday.

Dalton Bradford was hit by a pitch to open the top of the ninth. He reached second on a two-strike sacrifice bunt by Marcus Eberhart and went to third on a wild pitch. Chantler Valero’s fly ball to center field was deep enough to score Bradford with the go-ahead run.

Columbus threatened in the bottom of the ninth. Clayton Duncan led off with a single and reached second on a single by Gage Dempsey. With two outs Tristan Moran was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dawson Weaver hit a grounder that was headed to right field to at least tie the game. The ball bounced up and hit Moran ending the game.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less other than maybe we play 10 or 11 innings tonight,’’ Northside coach Dee Miller said about the back and forth game. “It was just a good high school baseball game and you would expect it out of both of these teams. We both had chances to win and fortunately we were able to score one in the ninth and some how keep them from scoring.’’

With the victory, Northside is 13-3 in the region and 1 1/2 game ahead of Columbus, which is 11-4. The teams play again Friday at Northside, where the Patriots can wrap up the region title with a victory.

“It’s a big deal for our program, for our school and it is something we talk about,’’ Miller said. “Thankfully, we’ve been through this several times this year where we win on Thursday and have to bounce back and be prepared to play the next day. We’ll prepare the same here beginning in a few minutes and hopefully we’ll have the same result.’’

Columbus opened the scoring when Blake Hicks hit a home run in the bottom of the first.

Columbus extended the lead in the bottom of the third inning when Moran reached on a single and went to second on Weaver’s sacrifice bunt. With two outs Patriot starting pitcher John Latta walked three straight batters in Jake Copley, Jackson Mellenberg and Cason Greathouse. Greathouse picked up an RBI, putting Columbus up 2-0.

Northside tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning on solo home runs from Drew Haywood and Chris Heinzelman.

Columbus went back on top in the fifth inning when Copley was hit by a pitch and scored from first ahead of Mellenburg’s double for a 3-2 lead.

Northside took its first lead in the top of the sixth. Valero reached on a bunt single. Haywood hit a line drive to center field. Austin Foster made a diving attempt on Haywood’s ball, but the ball popped out of his glove and away from him once he hit the ground allowing both runners to move up. Seth Shadix drove in Valero with a single that dropped behind first base. Shadix stole second ahead of catcher Hick’s throw, which allowed Haywood to score for a 4-3 lead.

Gage Dempsey reached on a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth. With two outs Moran walked and Weaver was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Hicks picked up an RBI when he was hit by a pitch scoring Dempsey and tying the game at 4-4.

The drama began in the seventh when each team had chances to win the game in regulation.

With one out in the top of the seventh, Eberhart reached on a throwing error by Copley, the only error for either team in the game. The throw went over first base allowing Eberhart to reach second. Alex Royal reached on a walk putting runners at first and second. Valero bunted back to Greathouse on the mound who fired to third. Eberhart was called safe loading the bases. Haywood lined out to a diving Copley at third who jumped up and tagged Eberhart who was called out ending the inning.

Greathouse led off the bottom of the frame being hit by a pitch. Pinch runner Robbie Tillman reached second and third on wild pitches. Dempsey then struck out and Jerrette Lee lined out to center field ending the threat and sending the game to extra innings.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 10:04 PM with the headline "Northside one win from Region 1-5A title."