BAYMEADOWS – The 2019 version of the Duval County Middle School Baseball title game had more plots than a soap opera.
A crazy back and forth three hour plus game was finally resolved when No. 2 seeded Landmark scored five runs in the top of the ninth to stun No. 1 seeded Landon 8-3 in nine innings Wednesday night at Atlantic Coast High.
Tied at 3 all, leadoff hitter and staring pitcher Holden Bradshaw was hit by a pitch, Chris Mattox followed with a walk and Blake Pacheco was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Reid Linsagan RBI single past short scored Bradshaw giving the Seahawks a 4-3 lead.
Catcher Mason Terry overthrew pitcher Connor Thomas after a pitch allowing Mattox to score from third for a 5-3 lead.
Nick Tilley drew a two out walk to load the bases again and Jaedan Richo singled in Pacheco for a 6-3 lead.
Landon appeared to be getting out of the inning down three runs as second baseman Trey Seeker fielded a routine grounder but Seeker over threw first baseman Alijah Robinson allowing two more runs to score for a 8-3 lead.
A pop up caught by Robinson for the third out ended the inning for the Lions, who were down five in the bottom of the ninth.
However, reliever Jackson Phillips, who entered the mound in the eighth and struck out the side in the eighth, struck out two of the final three batters in the ninth to clinch the win.
Landmark jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first as Bradshaw reached on an infield single and scored on Linsagan grounder to second to give the Seahawks the early lead.
Landon didn’t waste anytime tying it up as Seeker drew a walk and scored on Terry sac fly to center to end the first inning tied at 1 all.
Lions pitcher Harper Osburn kept the Seahawks off the scoreboard in the second despite a lead off walk after getting two strikeouts and a fly out to center.
Bradshaw was just as effective striking out two of the three batters her faced in the second to keep the game tied at 1 all after two innings.
In the third, Bradshaw lead off with a single to left, stole second and third and scored on Pacheco RBI single to right putting the Seahawks back in front 2-1.
Robinson singled to left center and scored on a wild pitch to tie things back at 2-2 in the fourth. The Lions loaded the bases with two outs, but Bradshaw got out to the jam with a strikeout to end the threat.
Bradshaw led off the fifth with a walk and scored on Pacheco fielders choice giving the Seahawks the lead again with a 3-2 lead.
Landmark threatened in the top of the seventh with back-to-back two out singles from Mattox and Pacheco; however Osburn got a pop up to short to end the threat.
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Landon was down to its final three outs of the season. Yet the Lions weren’t done as an unknown pinch hitter (No. 52) lead off with a walk and came around to score the tying run after two wild pitches to force extra innings.
With two outs in the top of the eight, Richo singled to left and stole second to put the Seahawks into scoring position.
Pinch hitter Chris Chandler walked and tried to draw attention to himself while walking to second on stolen base attempt, however Thomas fired to third and caught Richo into a pickle play after numerous throws to end the inning.
After seven strong innings, Bradshaw had reached his innings allotment, as Seahawks coaches were forced to bring in first baseman Jackson Phillips to start the eighth. Phillips came in right away throwing gas and struck out the side easily to send the game to the ninth.
Landon (12-2) ended the season as the county runnerups, while Landmark (13-1) won the county title.
Bradshaw was named Most Valuable Player after going 2-3 and scoring 4 of the Seahawks eight runs, while also limiting the Lions offense to only 3 runs on the mound to get the win.
An elated Landmark coach Eddy Carter was distracted by pictures and was doused with Gatorade following the win. After drying off a bit, Carter spoke about the win and his program.
Kirby Smith held off Baldwin 7-5 to win the third place trophy in the consolation game earlier.
