EMERSON, Ga. – The Christian Brothers Academy Purple Wave and the East Paulding Raiders each made their way to the championship game of the Rawlings Select Classic #4 after remaining undefeated through pool play and the semifinals. Of the four teams to make the semifinals, they represented four different states with Christian Brothers from Tennessee, East Paulding from Georgia, Jordan from Utah, and Russellville from Alabama.
After a close fought game, the East Paulding Raiders earned the win after a back-and-forth effort that took the game eight innings. As the final run crossed the plate, the Raiders took the championship over Christian Brothers with a final score of 4-3.
The Purple Wave jumped out to an early lead in the first inning after senior shortstop, Landon Kelly, started the inning with a base hit. Designated hitter, Weston Bizzle, poked a base hit through the left side of the infield to plate the game’s first run.
East Paulding came back in the bottom of the second as Kyle Campbell led off the inning with a single and when Sean Cheely attempted to bunt him over, a throwing error allowed both men to reach scoring position with no outs. A pair of RBI groundouts from Jody Waddell and Dawson Vaughn gave the Raiders the lead at the end of two full.
Christian Brothers rallied in the top of the third to tie the game. Jarrett Fowlkes led off with a single and then came around to score on a lazy fly ball turned double off the bat of JL Bland. A pair of groundballs ended the threat and the game remained tied.
In the bottom of the third, the Raiders got a pair of runners in scoring position with one out, but failed to capitalize. A pair of swinging strikeouts by Landon Kelly ended the threat and moved the game to the fourth.
The resilient group of hitters on Christian Brothers pushed across another run in the fourth on a RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of William Locke. The defense of East Paulding let them down in the inning as a pair of errors led to the run. The Purple Wave led 3-2 in the middle of the fourth.
The back and fourth game continued in the bottom half of the inning. After a hit by pitch, William Prater ripped a loud triple to deep center field to plate the tying run with two outs. A bounce out to the shortstop stranded him at third, but again, the game was tied.
The firth inning and came and went without fanfare. Both sides collected a two out base hit to see the runner stranded and their half of the inning slide by. A base running mistake in the bottom of the sixth cost the Raiders a real chance. The would have had a pair of runners on after a walk and an error, but the runner at second was thrown out trying to advance to third.
In the top of the seventh, Christian Brothers had an opportunity with a runner on first with no outs. An erred sacrifice bunt attempt and a fly out netted East Paulding the first two outs and then Hayden Leatherwood lifted a deep fly ball to right center where Mitch White made a game saving sliding catch to end the inning.
The fireworks really took off the bottom of the seventh. Prater led off the inning with a single and was sacrificed up to second base, then to third on a balk. The Raiders looked to squeeze home the run and with a glove flip home from the pitcher, Prater was called out. The umpire ruled he missed the plate on his dive as the Raiders stormed out of the dugout with a mob pile on their mind, only to be sent back. In what almost turned out to be a mute point, Nate Butterworth ripped a ball deep to left-center field, but it was tracked down to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Raiders came back up to the plate with purpose. Campbell led off with a sharp single to center, Waddell was intentionally walked with one out, then Andrew Bruce reached on an error to load the bases. With all of the excitement from the seventh inning still lingering, the much anticipated outcome came on the least expected possibility. A high fastball off the glove of the catcher reached the backstop and Campbell raced home.
It was a hard fought game on both sides with strong pitching. Combined across both teams only three of the seven runs scored were earned over the combined 15 1/3 innings pitched. Jody Woddell earned the win tossing two scoreless innings of relief for East Paulding, allowing one hit with one strikeout.
The MVP for the event was William Prater who went two for three in the championship game with a triple to deep center and an RBI. On the tournament, he had five hits in 11 at-bats with a double, triple, two runs scored, 1 RBI and a pair of stolen bases. He also tossed three scoreless innings on the mound with a pair of strikeouts.
Weston Bizzle of Christian Brothers was MVP-Pitcher of the event with a dominant outing in their pool play game. He tossed seven innings allowing just one earned run on three hits, while striking out nine batters. At the plate, he also collected four hitters with two runs and two RBI.
2016 Rawlings Select Classic #4 runner-up: Christian Brothers High School (Tenn.)
