HOOVER, Ala. – The late University of Iowa football coach Hayden Fry knew how to turn a phrase, and one the Texan was especially fond of saying was that the sun don’t shine on the same dog’s rump every day – sage words, indeed.
But on Friday at the Perfect Game High School Showdown, when the sun finally decided to shine down on the Hoover Met Sports Complex after a day of rain on Thursday, it found a familiar backside after all.
The IMG Academy Ascenders out of Bradenton, Fla., winners of the Blue Division championship at last year’s PG HS Showdown, won by shutout for a second straight day while nearly recording a second straight no-hitter, and marched into a late semifinal Friday night playing like they were poised for a repeat.
“This is a totally different team than what we had this year and we’ve kind of had to piece some things together,” Ascenders head coach Kason Gabbard told PG Friday afternoon. “We’ve got kind of a younger group which is obviously good for the future.
“I think they’ve done a good job battling and that’s what it’s going to be like the rest of the year; we’re just going to battle every game.”
IMG began play at the Showdown on Thursday by beating Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson HS by a 7-0 count behind a complete game no-hitter from senior right-hander Heston Tole (Arkansas signee, t-500 ranked 2020); he struck out 11 and walked two.
The opponent on Friday with the pool championship on the line was Atlanta Woodward Academy, which had drilled Thompson by a 13-0 count on Thursday, thanks to five strong, one-hit, eight-strikeout innings from junior right-hander Banks Snellings.
The table was set for a royal showdown at the Showdown, and it appeared that the Woodward War Eagles had the perfect table-setter. Head coach Jose Fernandez was set to send Perfect Game All-American senior right-hander Will Sanders (South Carolina, No. 49) out to the bump to try to rain on the Ascenders’ parade.
And man, have the War Eagles seen rain. The Atlanta-area has been getting hit with deluge after deluge during the weeks of late winter and Woodward needed a big-time break just to dry-out and get focused.
“It’s hard to tell you about this ballclub because of all the rain that we’ve had in Georgia,” Fernandez told PG before their game with IMG. “Literally, we have practiced (outside) on the field four times in six weeks; everything’s been indoors. So, I really don’t know what we have. …
“But I can say with certainty that we’ve got a great group of kids,” he continued. “For the most part they work very hard, they listen very well, they’re coachable, so it’s one of those things where right now we’re kind of a work in progress.”
The work will continue when the War Eagles get back home to Atlanta. The Ascenders jumped on Sanders for three runs in the top of the third and added four more in the top of the fifth on their way to a second straight 7-0 victory.
Senior centerfielder Billy Underwood (Coastal Carolina, t-500), who doubled and drove in two runs in Thursday’s win, tripled and drove in two more on Friday. Senior Mac Horvath (North Carolina, No. 64), juniors Trey Rucker (uncommitted, No. 214) and Sam Hunt (Vanderbilt, No. 151), and freshman Stone Russell (Florida, No. 37 2023) all singled and drove in a run.
“I think we really rallied behind each other,” Underwood said. “You sting some hits together and one thing turns into another and you’ve got a lot of energy in the dugout from the guys who aren’t playing, and it’s really contagious.”
To Sanders’ credit, he battled hard through five up-and-down innings while waiting for his teammates bats to come alive. But that wasn’t going to happen on this sun-splashed but windy and chilly afternoon, not as long as IMG senior right-hander Corbin Morrison had a say in the outcome.
Morrison (Tennessee, t-500) kept the War Eagles guessing and off-balance through his five innings of work, tossing a no-hitter through four innings and finishing with a five-inning one-hitter, striking out 11 and walking four. Junior right-hander Drake Varnado (Arkansas, No. 29 2021) put a bow on the win with two no-hit, shutout innings, striking out four without a walk.
Morrison felt like he was able to build off the success Tole had enjoyed the day before:
“Throwing strikes is contagious,” Morrison said. “Whenever the guy before you does it, it’s a lot easier for you to do it; it just takes the pressure off of you. I had great (defensive) play behind me and the hitters put up some runs early and that just allowed me to cruise.”
This Ascenders team is young compared to the 2019 version that won the PG HS Showdown championship. Varnado, Hunt and James Wood (Mississippi State, No. 119) are among the prominent juniors and Russell is a rare freshman that has cracked the IMG lineup.
“The chemistry that they’re (enjoying), I think it’s great,” Gabbard said. “We have (several) returners this year so they obviously knew what we were all about. Now it’s just getting this other group of guys in here buying into what we’re teaching and I think they’re doing a good job.”
Tole, Underwood and senior Brandon Llewellyn were all members of last year’s team and are back looking for the repeat. There is always turnover on the Ascenders’ roster from year-to-year so, as Gabbard pointed out, that experience is very much valued.
“We’ve got some big shoes to fill, for sure,” Underwood said. “We had a really talented team last year, and we came in here and did our business last year and proved a big point. “I think we want to try to not only do what we did last year but try to surpass that with a whole new set of guys.”
From Woodward Academy’s point of view, an entire season remains and the rain has to stop sometime, doesn’t it? Just getting into some sort of normal pattern will be priceless for this team, which also features a nice mix of experience and youth.
“We’re putting guys in positions to see what they can do to give them an opportunity to flourish,” Fernandez said. “(Friday) was the first time we’ve played in a week and it was only the second time we’ve played in 18 days. … If you ask me the thing that we’re lacking it’s rhythm and consistency, but it’s not (the players) fault. It’s just that Mother Nature hasn’t been a baseball fan.”
This is Woodward’s second trip to the PG HS Showdown in as many years, and Fernandez was thrilled that his team was asked to return. Why is that? Well, the War Eagles lost their first three games here a year ago before winning in the consolation round, and that kind of showing doesn’t always warrant a return engagement. But they got one anyway.
“We came here last year and we got invited back after the first game,” Fernandez said. “It’s a tribute to them because it’s about the small things we talk about: hustling on and off the field, being gritty, playing tough, being resilient.
“(PG) came back and said, Coach, your guys did a fantastic job and you’re welcome to come back next year; we jumped at the opportunity.”
Meanwhile, IMG played on and they did it knowing they would continue to play with a sizeable target on their back. Gabbard’s message to them is a simple one: just keep doing what you’ve got to do. Adjustments will be made game-to-game, of course, but at least while heading into the late hours of Friday night and into the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Ascenders were in a pretty good place.
“It’s awesome,” Morrison said of playing with this team. “There’s no pressure whatsoever; everyone around you is good. You don’t have to play your best every game because you’ve got guys to pick you up – we’re just a family.”
Hayden Fry also liked to call a special occasion a “high porch picnic” and heading into the semifinals, the Ascenders were enjoying one of those, too.