Parklane Academy baseball manager Michael Clements knows good hitting can have a snowball effect on an entire team.
A flurry of hits can lead to an avalanche of runs piling on opposing teams’ pitching.
Welcome back to winter, Oak Forest Academy.
Parklane roughed up the visitors’ pitching during a nine-run fifth inning Tuesday night and the Pioneers beat Oak Forest 11-6 on Senior night at Parklane Academy.
The victory clinched the South State championship for the Pioneers (17-7 overall, 10-3 in Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division I South), the team’s first since 2001.
As the South State champion, Parklane will travel to face the North State runner-up in the first game of the state semifinals the week of May 3. The Pioneers will host Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 the following week.
“All year long, the guys have adjusted to different pitching,” Clements said. “All year, the guys came back. That shows what kind of character our guys have had all year.”
With Oak Forest leading 6-2, Wes Gill opened the deciding fifth inning with a double into the right-center field gap, then stole third base.
After a walk to Austin Terrell, Chance Schmidt lashed a single to left that scored Gill. Zach Smith then legged out a bunt single to lead the bases.
A walk to Brandon Austin forced home courtesy runner Bryce Bean — running for Terrell — to cut the margin to 6-4.
One out later, Josh Armstreet singled in Schmidt, and Alex Price followed with a single to center that plated Smith to tie the game at 6.
Following a pitching change, Austin and Armstreet scored on Nathan Taylor’s single to right to put Parklane ahead, 8-6.
A walk to Gill in his second at-bat of the inning to reload the bases, Terrell then ripped a line-drive double that eluded Oak Forest right fielder Drew Misita to score Price, Taylor and Gill to balloon the lead to 11-6.
After surrendering a four-run third inning, Parklane starter Shelby Johnson was stellar. He gave up a leadoff single in the fifth, then struck out the side.
Johnson also retired Oak Forest batters in order in the sixth, before giving way to Schmidt. The Pioneers’ closer walked two batters and saw another reach on a dropped third strike, but escaped when he struck out the game’s final batter.
Oak Forest starter Austin Lee silenced the Pioneers’ bats for two innings. He allowed only a leadoff single to Brandon Austin in the second, but walked two, threw 41 pitches and was taken out after the second inning.
Meanwhile, Oak Forest took a 1-0 lead in the first on a one-out single, stolen base and an RBI single.
The visitors added to their lead with a double and four singles to push the margin to 5-0. The Pioneers’ deficit would have been even greater had it not been for Gill, the Pioneers’ center fielder.
After Lee’s single to center plated a run, Jordan Wilkerson tried to score from second base on the hit. Gill, however, fired a strike to catcher Terrell, who applied the tag on Wilkerson to end the inning.
Parklane got on the board in the third. Terrell reached on a bloop single and Bean, again running for the Pioneers’ catcher, took second on Schmidt’s infield groundout. Bean then advanced to second on a wild pitch and came home when Oak Forest catcher Chris Gill’s throw to third base on the play sailed into left field.
Oak Forest answered with a two-out double, followed by an RBI single to center that made it 6-1.
The Pioneers added a run in the fourth on a walk to Austin, who swiped second, took third on Armstreet’s flyout to right and scored on Price’s single to left.
Parklane will travel to Oak Forest for a doubleheader on Thursday at 5.
