The entire script flipped in an instant.
With a single throw and in the confusion that followed, Covenant’s baseball team went from up a run and within a hair of a VIC championship to watching Miller celebrate a 5-4 victory and the Mavericks first VIC title in five years in a dogpile at home plate.
“On the pitch I was stealing because I wanted to get to second so there was no force out,” said Miller’s Will Wagner, who raced in for the winning run. “I see it hit to Will (Moore) and I was about to touch third I looked at first and the umpire waves him safe and I see the catcher is going out to celebrate. Halfway to home I felt like my legs were about to give out I was so excited.”
With Covenant up 4-3 and just an out away from the win, Miller had runners on the corners and Ethan Murray at the plate. Murray connected and sent a grounder to Will Moore at third base. Moore fielded it cleanly and made a one-hop throw to first. That’s when all hell broke loose. The ball arrived ahead of Murray, but it was ruled by the field umpire to have been pinned and not in a glove or hand, apparently a rule specific to high school baseball.
Since the play appeared from many vantage points to be an obvious out, Covenant started to celebrate, then quickly turned to protest. Meanwhile, Wagner took off, scoring the go-ahead run in an uncontested play at the plate. That set off a wild celebration at home plate for the Mavericks.
“I was watching the play (at first) and (Will Wagner racing home) ended up being the difference,” said Miller coach Billy Wagner. “In these games it has to be heads up, you have to be paying attention to the situations. That’s being a headsy baseball player.”
The moment erased a well-played game by the Eagles, highlighted by some strong pitching by Declan Kent and a three-run home run by Tyler Mahone that accounted for the bulk of the Eagles’ offense. Kent flirted with disaster a few times during his five inning stint but escaped each time Miller seemed poised to move ahead, including a particularly challenging jam in the bottom of the fifth, where third baseman Will Moore made two huge plays that didn’t result in outs but prevented go-ahead runs by the Mavericks. Kent ended that inning with a strikeout.
“I thought we we played very tight for a team that has this much talent,” Wagner said. “(Kent) was able to stay with his strength with fastballs arm side. Then he was able to mix in that curveball, I thought Declan pitched great. He put the ball where we couldn’t see it.”
Despite the drama, it was a game that didn’t matter much as far as the big picture goes. Both squads were seeded in the top three in VISAA’s Division II later that night and could be on a collision course in the state final. But neither team played like it despite saving the bulk of their top-notch pitching for the run to the state title next week. Miller got the job done offensively with a bunch of savvy base running while Covenant leaned on Jake Haney’s RBI double early and Mahone’s leftfield blast over the fence a few innings later.
Haney was strong in relief for the Eagles, escaping a sixth inning jam and then inducing the ground ball that appeared to be the final nail in Miller’s coffin for the day. But all that work became secondary to the controversial, disputed finish.
Miller, on the flip side, got a strong relief performance from Matt Sykes, a lefty submariner who threw well and leaned on his defense by inducing a pair of big double plays. With Sykes on the mound, the Miller offense managed to scratch out two runs, building on the first run that came thanks to a Will Wagner RBI that brought in Tanner Morris in the first inning.
Miller will host Portsmouth Christian/Hargrave Military Academy winner in the VISAA D2 state quarterfinals Tuesday while Covenant will square off with Nansemond Suffolk Academy in the quarterfinals the same day.
Final play of Miller's 5-4 win over Covenant in VIC tournament title game. pic.twitter.com/DCu5z5b8ae
— scrimmageplay (@scrimmageplay) May 13, 2017
