By Al Muskewitz, East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — It was described at various times in a raucous post-game celebration as bedlam, out of this world, and just plain two teams getting after it.
Jacksonville and Cherokee County staged a wild doubleheader Wednesday to determine the Class 4A, Area 9 baseball champion.
In the end, Jacksonville rallied the most and won Game 3 16-13 to claim the crown.
Cherokee County forced the winner-take-all rubber game by winning the first game of the doubleheader 13-7.
The Warriors had 26 runs and 22 hits in the two games. Jacksonville had 23 runs and 28 hits.
“This was two teams battling their tails off,” Warriors head coach Will Smith said. “Both sides faced every form of adversity that you could possibly face in every aspect of the game. I don’t know how many lead changes there were, but that was two teams battling it out.”
In the nightcap the Warriors rallied from deficits of 5-0, 6-5 and 10-9 to either tie or take leads. And Jacksonville rallied from being tied 5-5 and deficits of 9-6 and 12-10.
In the end, the Warriors just couldn’t overcome the six-spot the Golden Eagles put up in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good, but that didn’t stop them from trying.
They cut into the deficit with a run in the sixth and got a runner in scoring position with one out in the seventh before Jacksonville reliever Will Greenwood got a liner back to the box that turned into a game-ending double play.
Cherokee County’s Connor Wilson had a two-run homer and two doubles in the nightcap and started on the mound after catching seven hard innings of the opener.
“I don’t know many baseball players in the state of Alabama who can catch two baseball games and then come in and start a Game 3,” Smith said. “That’s the type of competitor that he is.”
Haden Wheeler went 3-for-3 with three runs in the nightcap and 3-for-3 with four runs in the first game.
“What’s that word they use for Oklahoma-Oklahoma State?” Jacksonville coach Jamison Edwards said. “Bedlam? This was bedlam out here.
“I had a real good feeling they were going to give all we could handle, and I was hoping we were going to give them all they could handle so this could be as good of a series as what I thought it might turn out to be.
“I’m gonna tell you what: I don’t know what they charged to get into their place, and I’m not sure what we charged to get into our place, but I’m going to tell you everybody in here got the most bang for their buck that they got in a while.”