By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
SPRING GARDEN – For the first time in five years, Spring Garden is advancing to the second round of the state baseball playoffs.
The Panthers have an eighth grade pitcher to thank in part for ending that drought on Friday.
With Spring Garden trailing Victory Christian by three runs in the top of the third inning of game one, Brody Bostick relieved veteran starter Clayton Sadler with two outs. Bostick allowed an earned run on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings to pick up the win as the Panthers rallied for a 13-8 decision.
Spring Garden head coach Kyle Garmon didn’t hesitate to hand young Bostick the ball to start game two. This time, he had a seven-run lead to play with before he took the mound.
Bostick worked an inning and allowed two earned runs on a hit with a walk and no strikeouts as Spring Garden completed the sweep with an 18-3 victory in five innings.
“They believed in me on the mound and they just played great defense behind me,” Bostick said. “They’ve also been killing the ball the last couple of games, so it means a lot when they can score six runs in an inning. It just really helps me pitch, to throw strikes and be more accurate.”
“He’s got a bright future on the mound,” Garmon said. “He already does a good job, and he’s just going to keep getting better.”
In game one, Spring Garden (18-11) rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the third inning with three runs in the bottom of the third, and four runs in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings.
“We went down early, but we felt like we could hit the kid (starting pitcher Kelton Strickland), and we did,” Garmon said. “If you’re swinging the bat well, you’re not out of it. We walked some and moved some guys around at the right time.”
Brady Ruark led the Panthers at the plate by going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs, and three RBIs. Sadler delivered a pair of doubles, two runs, and a RBI. Bostick also helped himself out at the plate by going 2-for-2 with a walk, a run, and a RBI.
Zane Edwards doubled, walked, scored a run, and had four RBIs. Hays Guthrie also doubled, walked, scored a run, and had three RBIs. Dawson Ellzey doubled, walked, and scored twice. Ben Baker doubled and scored a run.
Shawn Carnes contributed a hit, two runs, and a RBI. Joel Hunter had a hit, two walks, and a run.
Alex Hoggard led the Lions (13-11) at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double and drove in three runs.
Game two was the complete opposite for Spring Garden. The Panthers pounced out to a 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning and cruised to the win.
Edwards led the Panthers at the plate in the second game by going 3-for-5 with a double, four runs, and six RBIs. Hunter had a pair of hits with two walks, three runs, and a RBI. Baker went 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs. Sadler also contributed two hits with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs. Ellzey was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.
Bostick went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs. Ruark finished with a hit and a RBI. Eli Bates drove in a run.
After Bostick worked the first, Edwards logged three innings of no-hit ball with two walks and four strikeouts. Hunter closed things out with a no-hit bottom of the fifth with a strikeout.
William Dial had the lone hit for Victory Christian, a run-scoring double in the bottom of the third with two outs off of Edwards.
Spring Garden will now host third-ranked Hubbertville (19-6) in next weekend’s second round. Hubbertville won two out of three from Pickens Academy in other first-round playoff action. The two teams split on Thursday, but Hubbertville won the decisive third game on Friday 5-4.
“It’s always awesome to advance and get another home playoff series,” Garmon said. “We’ll give Hubbertville our best shot.”
