Watauga rallies past Spartans for Northwestern 3A-4A tourney crown

Ethan Greene’s mindset wasn’t any different from any other pitcher who takes the mound.

When the Watauga High reliever stepped on the hill Saturday night, his first thought was the obvious one. Only the stakes could not have been higher.

“I just wanted to throw a strike,” said Green with his Pioneers clinging to a one-run lead. “I just wanted to get (the batter) out somehow.”

Greene didn’t throw one strike but three, and his strikeout of Josh Murphy with a potential tying run at third base capped a stunning comeback and secured the Pioneers’ first conference tournament championship in 11 years after rallying past South Caldwell 8-7 in eight innings at M.S. Deal Stadium.

Nabbing a Northwestern 3A-4A tourney crown against a Spartans squad that swept Watauga in the regular season and was gunning for its seventh straight tourney title was surprising enough. But the manner in which the Pioneers (14-7) hoisted their first champion’s trophy since 2000 was all the more shocking.

South Caldwell (21-3) seemingly had the game well in hand early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after three innings. Watauga, though, clawed back into the game over the final four innings, taking advantage of numerous missed Spartans opportunities and a shaky performance on the mound from a trio of South Caldwell hurlers.

Logan Alley, Garrison Franklin and Spencer Greer combined to strike out eight Pioneers batters but walked nine and let loose five wild pitches. The Spartans also failed to capitalize on numerous scoring chances, finishing 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 runners on base.

“We just didn’t locate (our pitches) at times, and we did some things to hurt ourselves,” said South Caldwell head coach Jeff Parham. “We had our opportunities, but it just shows you how (a game) can slip away.

“You have to play seven innings of solid baseball, or it could be eight or nine, to get the job done.”

Blake Johnson got the Spartans’ early surge started when he led off the second inning with a lined home run over the left field wall. Gage Parham’s double inside the right field line plated two more, staking South Caldwell to a 3-0 lead.

The Spartans took advantage of a pair of Watauga errors an inning later to add two unearned runs and extend their advantage to 5-0 off Watauga starter Matt Proffitt. But Watauga completed its comeback scoring all of its runs in its final four at-bats.

“It’s been a resilient team all year,” said Pioneers head coach Pete Hardee, whose team failed to cash in on numerous scoring chances as well, stranding 13. “It seems like nothing’s gone right all year, and it’s been one thing after another.

“But we told the guys it’s going to take seven innings of pure fight to win the game, and they got it done.”

Max Linville’s two-run double in the fifth pulled Watauga within 5-2 before Linnville scored on an Alley wild pitch. Dylan Poarch answered in the bottom of the frame, extending South Caldwell’s lead to 6-3 with a run-scoring single to center off Pioneers reliever Jake Watts.

Proffitt’s double to right off Franklin in the sixth produced two more Watauga runs, cutting the Pioneers’ deficit to 6-5 and setting up some high drama in the final two innings.

Tyler Jones led off the seventh with an infield hit and eventually moved to third on a passed ball and groundout by Greene. Clint Trivette then evened the score with his two-out single to left scoring Jones.

Jones (2-1) entered in relief in the bottom of the seventh and held the Spartans scoreless, and back-to-back singles in the eighth pushed across two Watauga runs, giving the Pioneers the 8-6 lead.

South Caldwell nearly completed its own rally when Travis Cook’s two-out single to left moved Bryson Bowman, who reached on a fielder’s choice to second. Bowman then stole third base and came home on Watauga catcher David Martin’s throwing error.

Cook, who was running on the play, moved to third on the errant throw, and Pardee made the call for Greene.

The Watauga junior, who earned the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award after posting a complete-game semifinal victory over Alexander Central the day before, then picked the perfect time to collect his first save of the season with his strikeout of Murphy.