SPRING GARDEN – One thing first-year Spring Garden baseball coach Cole Murphy noticed about second-ranked Mars Hill Bible coming into their Class 2A second-round baseball series was they struggle somewhat when a team jumps on them early.
The Panthers didn’t do that in the first game on Friday, but they did in the second to force a winner-take-all decisive third game on Saturday morning.
Murphy said the Panthers’ plan was to jump on them early again on Saturday, but it was Mars Hill that put the pressure on Spring Garden early. The visiting Panthers scored in every inning but the second, while Spring Garden stranded 12 base runners –including the bases loaded twice – in an 11-0 decision in six innings.
“They’re a great program, but they are younger, and they do struggle with being down,” Murphy said. “We knew that going in. We didn’t do our job the first game. The second game, it was win or go home. Our kids did a great job of coming back out there, fighting, jumping on them real quick. That’s what we were trying to do today, but it just didn’t work out.
“We hit the ball. It just went to them. That’s how it was. We had a few errors there that cost us. When you play a good team like them, the second game showed how you have to play. We played pretty close, but our bats just weren’t there today. It wasn’t our day. It was their day.”
Mars Hill (26-5) advances to next weekend’s third round to face Ider, while the Panthers’ season ends at 17-16.
“I’m proud of them,” Murphy said. “Every inning, we had people on base. We were trying and gave it our all. We stayed positive knowing we’ve got to win this game. Being down like that (in game one 20-3 on Friday), it’s hard to stay positive, but that’s one thing you can say about these kids. They don’t expect to lose. Everything they do they expect to be great in. That’s why we have success here.
“That goes beyond me. I’m in my first year here. That’s just something this community has as a culture. It boils over into life, having that mindset. You’re going to have days that are 20-3 ball games. That’s what I told them. You’ve still got to get up, go to work, pay your bills. Being a group of teenagers that have that mindset, that just sets them up to be great in the future.”
Left fielder Chapel Pope led the Panthers at the plate on Saturday, going 3-for-4. Murphy was particularly proud of his performance on Saturday.
“He kind of got in a slump there at the end of the season where it was just going to people, like yesterday. I don’t know how many went straight to them. Their third baseman (Aiden Kennedy) was shut down. He’s probably the cleanest high school kid I’ve seen in a while. Chapel just kept hitting it to him. It’s frustrating, but being frustrated and coming back today and having that same mindset he had, it just worked for him today. He just did a great job getting the bat on the ball,” Murphy said.
Chaz Pope added a hit and was hit by a pitch. Gavin Bass, Denver Jarrett, Landon Gowens and Andrew Floyd each contributed a hit. Jarrett suffered the loss after working 2 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs on five hits with three walks, a hit batsman, and a pair of strikeouts.
Mars Hill’s Jack Irby earned the win. He worked 5 1/3 innings, scattering eight hits with a walk, a hit batsman, and a strikeout. He also helped himself at the plate by blasting a two-run homer to left in the fifth. He also had a run-scoring single to right in the third and drove in a run in the sixth.
Josh Bowerman delivered a two-run homer to center in the sixth and walked twice. Sam Williams went 3-for-3, including a double and a walk. Cade Moore provided a two-run single to left in the first.
Murphy said coaching the Panthers this season has been a great experience.
“Just having a group of kids who are coachable and they hold each other accountable, they expect to win. That’s a coach’s dream. I love it. I just love it,” he said. “I am living my dream. I’m getting to coach a great group of kids at a school with great community support and a bunch of coaches who have been through it who I can always go back to. Coach (John) Wilson and Coach Greg (Maddox), they’re great help and keep me from losing my mind sometimes and keep me from questioning myself. Having that makes everything so much easier, especially being a first-year head coach.
“When you’re going to the second and third round in every sport, the expectations are so high. Yeah, it made me nervous, but just having the support I have and the great group of kids I have makes it easy.”