McBee scores 8 runs in top of seventh for 12-5 victory over Latta to force Game 3 in Class A baseball title series

         Latta – When Latta High School starting pitcher Mason Weatherford struck out McBee’s Lucas King to begin the top of the seventh inning, the Vikings found themselves just two outs away from winning the Class A baseball state championship for the first time since 2018 and doing it at home for the first time 1951.

   Strike 3 though was Weatherford’s 111^th of the contest, meaning he had reached his pitch limit and had to leave the mound. With the Panthers at the top of their batting order, they were able to break through and turn a 5-4 deficit into a 12-5 victory, scoring eight runs to even the best-of-3 series at one game apiece on Wednesday at LHS’ Buddy Johnson Memorial Baseball Stadium.

   The deciding game is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. at South Florence.

   “We told them we just had to keep getting traffic on the bases and we had to keep pushing runners over, pushing runners in,” said McBee head coach Josh Tiller, whose team improved to 22-12-1 on the season. “We just stuck to our plan and were able to execute and get some runs in the last inning.”

   Latta head coach Robbie Brown reminded his team after the difficult loss that the season is not over.

   “You get an opportunity to play again,” said Brown, whose team is 26-10. “It’s not the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world. You get to come back in two days and give everything you’ve got. We’ve got to show up on Saturday and compete. It’s that simple. We’ve got an opportunity to go and play on Saturday and play for a state championship.”

   McBee touched up Weatherford for four runs in the top of the first inning. He shut the Panthers down after that while Latta scored a run in the bottom of the inning, three in the second to tie it and one in the fifth to go up 5-4.

   With his pitch limit fulfilled, the right-handed senior Weatherford was replaced by eighth-grade righty Noah Cook. The frist batter he faced was Chris Stone, who hit a ball deep into the hole to shortstop Luke Huggins. Stone legged it out for an infield single, and that got the ball rolling for McBee.

   Stone stole second base on Cook’s first pitch to JJ Melton. The at-bat was a battle that Melton eventually won when he blasted a double over the rightfielder’s head to score Stone and tie the game at 5-5.

   “We knew coming up into the seventh inning we had a chance to get their guy out of the game,” Melton said. “We had to take advantage of it. That’s how baseball is. You have to come through in the big moments, and Chris beating out that infield single just put the momentum on our side. God had a plan for us, and it was His will for us to go to a Game 3.”

   A Hayden Griggs infield single moved Melton to third before he scored on a wild pitch for the go-ahead run. Between Cook and fellow relievers Logan Byrd and Huggins, five straight Panthers reached base without putting the ball in play. Manning Tolson, Peyton Brigman and Hunter Griggs all drew walks before Harlan McLaurin was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run. Cooper Rollings followed with an RBI walk to increase the lead to 9-5.

   King’s second trip to the plate of the inning – MHS sent 12 batters to the plate -- was much better than the first as he laced a 2-run double. Stone delivered a sacrifice fly to score Rollings with the final run.

   “That was big,” Tiller said of Weatherford reaching his pitch limit. “He was sharp tonight, especially his breaking ball. That was giving us fits all night. We really didn’t have an answer for it. Once he ran out of pitches and had to leave (the mound), we had a better chance of getting on and getting in.”

   “I wish he would have had about 10 more pitches,” Brown said of Weatherford. “But the guy we brought in (Hill) has pitched well for us all year (17 innings pitched and a 3.03 earned run average in eight appearances prior to Wednesday). It just didn’t go our way tonight and that’s OK.”

   Weatherford worked 6 1/3 innings, finishing with 10 strikeouts while allowing just four hits and three walks.

   The Panthers finished with eight hits. Stone led the way, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one run batted in. Melton and King were both 1-for-4 with a double. Melton scored twice and had one RBI, while King had two RBI.

   Hayden Griggs had a hit and two runs, Brigman had a hit, two runs and an RBI, and McLaurin had a hit, a run and an RBI. Rollings and Hunter Griggs both scored a run and had an RBI.

The Vikings finished with seven hits. Josiah Durant was 2-for-3 with a double and a run, and Byrd was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

   Fischer Richardson had a double, a run and two RBI, BW Berry had a hit, two walks and an RBI, and Caden Hyatt had a hit and a run. Bryson Berry had an RBI, and courtesy runner Danny McDowell scored a run.

   Melton came on in relief of starter Hayden Griggs with two outs in the third and runners on first and second in a 4-4 game. He recorded a strikeout to end the inning and ended up going the rest of the way. In 4 1/3 innings, Melton allowed just two hits and one run while striking out five and walking two.

   “JJ’s pitched well for us all season,” Tiller said. “He’s a guy we can count on. He throws a lot of strikes, he limits traffic and he came out tonight and did a fantastic job with that. He’s really a bulldog on the mound, a competitor and a guy we can count on and rely on.”

   After struggling offensively in an 11-1, 6-inning home loss in Game 1 on Saturday, McBee put up four runs in the top of the first. Stone led off with a single before Weatherford walked Melton and Hayden Griggs to load the bases with no outs.

   A sacrifice fly from Tolson plated Stone with the first run. A Brigman single scored Melton, and a Hunter Griggs groundout scored Hayden Griggs to make it 3-0. Brigman scored on a wild pitch for the fourth run.

   The Vikings got a run back in the bottom of the inning. Byrd doubled home BW Berry, who had walked.

   LHS tied the game in the second, doing all of the damage after two were out with nobody on base. Hyatt drew a walk before Durant hit a blooper along the rightfield line for a double. Richardson followed with a 2-run double, and he scored on a BW Berry single.

   Latta took the lead in the fifth. Weatherford, who was hit by a pitch his first two times up, drew a leadoff walk. Courtesy runner McDowell moved up on a groundout and got to third on an error. He scored on a groundout by Bryson Berry to make it 5-4.