Minford stuns Wheelersburg with four-run seventh in come-from-behind win

WHEELERSBURG — Teams who are ranked in statewide polls don't get their billing by accident — because their respect comes from finding ways to win in moments where a game appears to be lost.

If there was ever an example of finding a way to win a game that appeared to be lost, the Minford Falcons' baseball program certainly found a way to do just that on Wednesday evening.

Trailing 3-0 to a Wheelersburg Pirates' baseball squad that had grinded out eight hits and had put a total of 16 batters on base during the contest while holding Minford to just one hit through six innings of play, the Falcons' chances weren't exactly promising heading into the seventh inning.

However, one couldn't tell with the way Minford responded in the top of the frame.

And it ultimately resulted in arguably the best comeback by any team in any game this season inside the Scioto County lines.

In an incredible rally, six of Minford's first eight batters reached base in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Falcons, leading to a crazy sequence that decided the game as Ty Borland's infield single not only scored the tying run in Colt Donahoe, but the winning run as well as Curtis Glenn sprinted home from second base and beat a return throw back to home plate, giving Minford a 4-3 lead and the victory in a remarkable last inning turn of events in a SOC III contest that was held in Wheelersburg on Wednesday evening.

For the normally unsurprised and even-keeled Eli Daniels, the late rally even had the Minford head coach's emotions on a level that was above 10.

"Grit's an understatement," Daniels said. "I don't know what that was, but that was something to see right there. That was special. I'm on Cloud Nine right now. I can't say enough about that one. That was fun right there."

As excited as Daniels was on his side, Wheelersburg head coach Derek Moore was understandably dejected. The Pirates put a runner on base in each of the seven innings contested on Wednesday and put at least two runners on in five out of the seven frames of action, but costly baserunning miscues, which ran Wheelersburg out of runs on three separate occasions, proved to be huge.

Still yet, the Pirates led 3-0 with a chance to close the deal, but couldn't do so behind the Falcons' pure will to win.

"It showed right there why they're first place in (the SOC III), why they're probably going to win the league, and going to make a deep tournament run," Moore said. "We showed our age in the seventh inning unfortunately. When it came down to making plays when we needed to, we weren't playing smart baseball, in my opinion."

Over the first six innings of play, Wheelersburg's Andrew Tabor proved to be a tough egg to crack for Minford's offense.

Tabor, who pitched on what Moore referred to as "a bum ankle" on Wednesday, gave up a single to Minford's Mason Bradley on the second at-bat of the contest.

But that proved to be the only hit the Falcons would get through the first six frames. From there, the only additional Minford batters that reached base were on a leadoff hit by pitch in the second inning and two infield errors to begin the fourth frame of play.

"Andrew pitched great on a bum ankle," Moore said. "You hate it for guys like that, who give it their all. He's a great boy. I've coached him for three years now. He didn't get to play last season because of an injury, so I was super ecstatic to know that he was coming back this season, and he's been great for us. You really feel for kids like that who played hurt, but also wanted the ball. I hate that we couldn't find a way to get more outs for him."

Minford, however, countered by making plays in crucial situations.

In the first inning, Wheelersburg put runners on second and third with one out after a walk by Cameron Conn and a single by Brady Doss with both runners advancing a base on the throw, but Minford starting pitcher Ty Borland induced a pop out and a fly out to keep the Pirates off the board.

Borland then overcame back-to-back walks with two gone, along with a passed ball and a stolen base by Owen Wilburn that allowed Wilburn to advance to third base, by getting a line out to left field to keep the game locked at a 0-0 mark, and battled around back-to-back singles with one out in the third inning by getting a fly out and a pop out to end that frame also.

In the middle innings, Minford's defense proceeded to make one big play after another.

Drew Holland, who led off the fourth frame for Wheelersburg, singled to left field — but Minford freshman catcher Colby Mullins erased the early baserunning threat by throwing out courtesy runner Hayden Henderson at second base.

Then in the fifth, two additional plays of critical importance followed, as after a one-out walk, Borland made a quick pickoff throw to catch Wheelersburg's Bransyn Russell off of first base, which proved to save a run as Brady Doss, the next batter up in the order, roped a double into the left field gap.

When Doss moved to third base on a wild pitch, and Tabor walked as the next batter up in the order, it appeared that the Pirates were pressuring for a big score.

But instead, the Falcons came up with a huge hold — as Doss, who got a sizeable lead at third base, was caught by Mullins getting that lead and was thrown out on a bang-bang play, erasing Wheelersburg's threat in that stanza.

Through five innings of play, the Pirates had put 10 batters on base and five runners in scoring position. But the Falcons, through their own work defensively, kept the score at 0-0 through five innings of play.

"We made great, timely plays in the field," Daniels said. "Colby Mullins picked off two there on his own and Ty Borland picked off a runner at first. That's the game right there. If those runners stay on, we've got to get three more outs, and we get two of those three pickoffs in one inning. That's huge. Timely hitting, timely pitching, timely fielding. We did it right there."

"We got runners on, but we shot ourselves in the foot a ton (on Wednesday)," Moore said. "You've got to give Minford credit for making plays, but man, this one's going to sting for a while."

But after a 1-2-3 inning by Tabor, Wheelersburg again had the opportunity to take control — and was able to produce in the manner that it needed to in the bottom of the sixth.

Sending eight batters to the plate in the frame, Brady Music led off matters with a leadoff double to left field, while Ean Conn walked. The pair then executed a double steal perfectly, which set the stage perfectly for Holland.

Coming up big with his second straight single, Holland's base hit to right field scored both Music and Conn, giving Wheelersburg a 2-0 advantage.

But in another big defensive play that saved yet another run, Mullins, for the third time in the game, picked off a Wheelersburg base runner. This time, the freshman field general behind the plate caught Holland off base at first, throwing him out. That saved another run from scoring, as Wheelersburg increased its lead to 3-0 on an RBI groundout from Cameron Conn, but didn't add any more in a frame where the Pirates could've scored twice more.

"Colby's excelling defensively," Daniels said. "Now, he's a freshman who makes freshman mistakes here and there, but Colby's smart enough to learn from the time that he makes those mistakes, and knows that they probably won't happen again. I can't say enough good things about him. He played his butt off (on Wednesday)."

Still, Moore felt good about where Wheelersburg stood after the sixth inning of competition.

"It felt good," Moore said. "If you would've asked me, anytime you score three in the sixth with the way we've pitched so far this year with a 3-0 lead going into the seventh inning with our guys lined up, you've got to feel confident. But you've got to give Minford a ton of credit. We showed our age. They showed their age. I believe they have nine seniors this year. They didn't panic. They got a guy on, and it was like momentum just continued to build and build."

Ultimately, Minford's defensive gems proved to be enough for a rally to remember in the seventh.

Fittingly, it was Mullins who got the rally started — by shooting a double to left center field of the standup variety. His base hit, along with Tabor hitting the 75-pitch mark, precipitated a pitching change.

Mark Napier then followed by legging out an infield single on a ball that was hit deep in the hole to short.

Following Napier, Donahoe came up to the plate. The second baseman shot a ball back up where it came from with a hit directly to center field, loading the bases for Evan Richards, whose 4-3 RBI groundout scored Mullins and moved both Napier and Donahoe into scoring position.

Then, it was Glenn's turn. He proceeded to draw a five-pitch walk to load the bases with one gone.

"The bottom of the order came up huge," Daniels said. "Colby started things off with that leadoff double to the left field corner, and didn't look back from there. They grinded out the at-bats right there. They took it pitch-by-pitch, and great things happened."

That turned the lineup back over to the top of the order — and while Wheelersburg pitcher Cameron Conn came up big initially by inducing a pop fly, Bradley and Borland had other ideas about how the contest's result would go down.

The two-hole hitter in the order, Bradley's base hit to left field scored Napier to draw Minford within 3-2 — setting up what was to come.

Back up at the plate after throwing five innings on the hill, Borland, with two out, came through.

Shooting a ball over to shortstop, Borland legged out a base hit by inches, which made Donahoe, who came across as the tying run, official.

But Glenn, trailing the play at second base, didn't stop there.

With Daniels letting Glenn decide his own fate, Glenn didn't hesitate, as his wheels made a left turn from third base to home. Sliding in like a sprint car riding the top of a high-banked dirt track, Glenn used his outstretched arms to beat the tag of Doss on the return throw from first base — capping the incredible turn of events as Minford, down 3-0 with only three outs to play with, now led by a 4-3 margin.

"There was no stop sign in his eyes," Daniels said of Glenn. "He was gone. That wasn't me. That was all him. What a fantastic play by Curt, and an even better slide. From where I was, he was all the way in the back of the batter's box reaching out. Just a fantastic hustle play by Curt."

Down to the field three outs on its own side now, Wheelersburg needed just one run and was able to get a runner to second base after an error and a balk call.

However, Minford relief pitcher Max Lauder closed the deal, obtaining a strikeout, a fielder's choice and a fly out to conclude the come-from-behind thriller.

With the win, the Falcons improved to 12-1 overall and 7-1 in SOC III competition. A win at Valley on Monday, April 27 gives Minford the SOC III title outright, while a victory at home against South Webster on Friday, May 8, even with a loss to the Indians on April 27, gives Minford a share of the SOC III Championship.

"We just play our game," Daniels said. "We don't worry about what other people do. We can only control what we do, and that's what I tell the boys everyday. Just go out there, play your game and whatever happens, happens. We'll be happy with whatever we get."

Wheelersburg, who fell to 6-7 overall and 4-4 in SOC III competition, was eliminated from conference championship contention with the loss. Of the six teams in the SOC III, only Valley (9-3, 4-2 SOC III) can earn at least a share of the title with Minford at this point.