Huddled around the Green Monster-like wall at Parklane’s field, coach Michael Clements’ words to his team Thursday after blowing a five-run lead were simple: turn in your gear or win and prepare for the state championship.
His team took the latter option, but not without drama that couldn’t have been scripted better.
Parklane held off Jackson Academy’s furious five-run rally in the top of the seventh inning and earned a 9-8 win to clinch the MAIS Class AAA Division I best-of-three semifinal series.
The win puts Parklane in the state championship next week against Madison- Ridgeland Academy, which beat Jackson Prep on Thursday to advance. The series begins 6 p.m. Tuesday at MRA.
“I’m really at a loss for words. It’s just surreal,” said senior Zach Smith, who picked up the win on the mound. “This is my first time to beat JA … and it’s an amazing feeling. Going to state two years in a row, that doesn’t happen for most people.”
Parklane lost in last year’s title game to JA and was also eliminated by the Raiders in 2010 when they rallied to win games 2 and 3 on the Pioneers’ home turf. So to call it a revenge win would be an understatement.
“I’ve been thinking about that for two years, but finally we got the monkey off our back and hopefully we can make some noise next week,” Clements said.
But it almost didn’t happen. Parklane led 5-0 heading into the sixth inning of Game 2 and JA came out of nowhere to score six runs to win 6-5 and force a third game. Drew Newquist pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win.
That’s when Clements delivered the ultimatum, and Parklane responded for the first six innings until another monumental late-game collapse was avoided.
Down 9-3, JA used a slew of walks and a huge error to cut it to 9-8. Sophomore Tanner Whittington, who entered for Smith with no outs and the bases loaded in the seventh, sandwiched a hit batsman, an error and a two-run single between three strikeouts to seal the game.
But even the final out required drama. Whittington struck out Colin Welsh and the ball got past catcher Walt Aldridge, who threw a dart to Landon Mabile at first base for the final out as Parklane fans and players went into hysteria.
“The first game let us know we are not invincible,” McKinley said. “We can have five runs but that means nothing. I think we rebounded very well and came back with a good mental mindset.”
McKinley was the catalyst in Game 3, finishing 3 for 4 with three doubles and two RBIs. The senior’s two-run double in the second inning gave Parklane the lead for good at 5-3. His third double came in the bottom of the sixth and he later scored the all-important ninth run for the Pioneers on a wild pitch.
Parklane slowly beat up JA’s undermanned staff in the final game. Matt Smith, the Raiders’ No. 2 pitcher, had surgery to repair a broken toe Tuesday and left the team scrambling for pitchers. JA used a total of four pitchers in Game 3, with none lasting more than than 2 1/3 innings.
On the other side, Smith’s final line left much to be desired from an outside perspective — seven runs (four earned) on six hits and five walks — but he was dominant for much of the game. A leadoff error, two hits and a walk quickly gave JA a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Following the rough start, Smith retired 15 of the next 18 batters.
“He’s the right guy for the spot,” Clements said. “He didn’t want to come out but he was just completely out of gas.”
Earlier in the night, Parklane wasted a stellar pitching performance from Mabile. The senior took a shutout into the sixth inning before the Pioneers’ defense unraveled behind him. Second baseman Justin Brent committed two costly errors that helped JA plate six in the inning. Both teams were equally sloppy, combining for 10 errors in the game — six by JA and four by Parklane.
“There’s no way we should have lost that ball game,” Clements said. “The errors just killed us. The good thing about it is it didn’t matter.”
Mabile allowed one earned run on six hits in 5 2/3 before giving way to James Michael Schmidt. Mabile, who also scored three times in Game 3, led Parklane with two hits and two RBIs. Whittington also added a pair of hits and McKinley drove in a run on a RBI single during a four-run fourth inning.
Ole Miss signee Matt Denny, who battled mononucleosis this week, was 1 for 5 with a double, three walks and three runs scored in the two games.
