Parowan punched its ticket to the 2A state championship with an 11-9 comeback win over the top-seeded Bulldogs from Gunnison Valley in an emotional battle that took just under four hours on Friday night. The game featured five ties and four lead changes while the victor wasn’t revealed until the final at-bat.
After escaping with a win yesterday because of brilliant two-out batting, the same occurred on Friday afternoon, most notably in a monster third inning.
With runners on second and third, Nate Townsend got a grounder past third base to bring home both runs. Christian Bost hit a single that was followed by a triple to left-center field from Max Topham that suddenly tied the game. Topham would later get home on a balk to give the Rams the lead and some energy.
“A lot of it is momentum. Our guys right now are believing in each other and listening to our game plan. We try to make them have an approach and to be able to come through and believe in the approach. That is the most important thing.” said Parowan Coach Jed Townsend.
Gunnison fought right back, getting two runs across the plate in each of the next two innings to reclaim the lead heading into the fifth inning before Parowan’s second rally in the top of the sixth.
Heading into the final inning all tied up, each team knew the importance of getting a runner on base early. Matt Townsend led off with a single and Nick Goodman got hit by a pitch. A few batters later, Parowan had a two-run lead and never looked back
Parowan’s pitching throughout the game played a big role in its victory. Starting pitcher Trevin Yardley’s numbers might not jump off the page — he allowed nine runs (five earned) in four innings — but he managed to grind out an impressive performance against one of the best batting teams in the state.
The Rams bullpen would back him up. Topham pitched a scoreless one and a third innings before Goodman came and recorded the win. Goodman faced eight batters over the final two innings and allowed just one hit and zero runs.
“We just knew that we got to battle,” Goodman said. “We want this. We have been working for this all year. This was one of the first times I pitched, but I knew I had players that backed me up and that if I threw strikes, they would get outs for me.”
In a game that finished with 326 pitches over the course of 83 at bats, every single player had to contribute at one point or another to help his team escape with a win in what is arguably the most important game of the season. The Rams did just that.
Third baseman Jace Little made multiple defensive plays to keep the score the same, and Matt Townsend, Shaydon Benson and Wyatt Hall also contributed at key moments defensively as Parowan closed the emotional win. Little recorded the final out of the game while Gunnison had the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first base.
“At Parowan, we are brothers. We work hard every day, we grind every day, we hang out every day, we do everything together at Parowan, we love each other,” Goodman remarked of his team.
The 2A champion will be decided on Saturday afternoon at Utah Valley University. Parowan will not know its opponent until the one-loss bracket closes out in the first game of the day. The Rams will then get two shots at that team to take home the trophy.
Not knowing your opponent until minutes before you play them can present a unique challenge for coaches when trying to prepare for the final game of the season.
“These guys are athletes; we are creatures of habit. The only way I know how to coach is to just continue our routine, so I will do everything I can to try and not make them press too much,” Jed Townsend said. “We are going to get together as a team and have some meetings but just do the exact same routine we have done the last three days, but really the whole season.”
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2SUauGn
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