For the better part of eight innings on Saturday afternoon Jack Lister’s biggest contributions were high fives and words of encouragement to his teammates. But when his number was called in the ninth frame of the Region 1-3A Championship Game Lister delivered a pinch-hit knockout blow.
The junior’s blast to deep centerfield gave the Greeneville baseball team a 5-4 win over Tennessee High, and allowed them to leave Tusculum’s Pioneer Park with the gold plaque in hand.
“I’m at a loss for words, when you are so emotionally invested in this its kind of tough to explain what it feels like,” Greeneville coach Andy Collins said. “I’m just proud of every single one of these kids. This is something that they worked hard for. You have guys that have given to this in different ways, and that is what a team is about. These guys believe it’s never over, they never stop plugging away, and that life.”
Saturday’s win gave Greeneville its third consecutive region championship and allows them to return to Tusculum for the Class 3A State Sectionals. The Greene Devils will host Anderson County next week in a best-of-three series with a state tournament appearance on the line.
“(Tusculum) is home now. Last year it was good for us to have the sectional here. More importantly we don’t have to come back later tonight after a nine-inning game to try to advance,” Collins said.
The region championship contest sat tied at 4-4 through the seventh and eighth innings. With two outs in the ninth Collins called Lister off the bench and gave him a chance to change the fate of the Greene Devils’ season.
Tegan Begley sat on third waiting to be knocked home. Lister sat on a 2-1 count when Ethan Munsey sent a pitch down the middle. Lister lofted it high and far. Centerfielder Russell Blevins turned to chase, but he could not catch up as the ball landed just short of the wall. Begley was already at the plate when the ball struck the turf, and he touched down for the winning run.
The dugout erupted and the chase was on to mob Lister at second base after he delivered a walk-off win.
“That felt ridiculous. I’ve never felt anything like it,” Lister said. “I had been watching each pitch on deck and knew he was hittable. I watched one belt high and knew it was my pitch. He gave it to me again and I hit over the centerfielder. I really thought he caught it, but he played it weird and it felt so good to see it land.”
Begley not only scored the winning run, he turned in a huge relief effort on the mound while earning tournament MVP honors. The senior tossed the final four innings, striking out seven, walking three and allowing three hits with one unearned run crossing the dish.
“I didn’t want to go into another on the mound, so when I saw that land I was pretty relieved. There were so many emotions rushing over me today,” Begley said. “I knew I had to throw strikes and trust my defense. I tried to keep the energy up and get quick outs. Now we’re one step closer to our goal of a state championship.”
While it took nine innings to get the job done Greeneville started Saturday’s action with a bang. In the bottom of the first inning Maddox Bishop led off the game by ripping a double into left field. Kaine Ricker was up next and gave Greeneville the lead when he launched an RBI triple into the left-center gap.
Begley grounded out to score Ricker, giving the Devils a 2-0 lead.
Tennessee closed the gap to 2-1 in the third frame when Knox Keese sent a line drive over the left side of the infield that allowed Jon Ragan to score from third.
The Vikings evened things up at 2-2 in the fifth inning when Gage Graziano fired a line drive into left field that allowed Hudson Pender to score from second base.
In the bottom of the fifth Greeneville loaded the bases with one out, but the Vikings forced Will Harmon to pop out and Grayson Crosby to ground out to end the threat.
With a new pep in its step Tennessee took the lead in the top of the sixth. Traye Collette started that effort with a double that banged off the right-field wall.
That led to Begley taking over on the rubber and he struck out the first two batters he faced. Dayne Musick then beat out an infield single by the narrowest of margins, and Collette never stopped running to score from second. Musick made it 4-2 when Pender lined an RBI single into left field.
A few turns of good fortune allowed Greeneville to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kase Spradlen got things started with a walk and moved up when Silar Lewis sent a line drive into center field.
Bishop sent a ball back of the middle with two outs and the Devils found their first stroke of luck when from the mound Blevins chose to throw to second instead of first. The throw bounced into centerfield, allowing Spradlen to score. Lewis scored when Begley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
With the bases still loaded Greeneville could not find the go-ahead run. In total Greeneville left 11 runners stranded on Saturday, three of them were on third base.
The game went into extra innings, and in the ninth frame Lister’s big hit decided the outcome.
“Jack has been swinging well in the cage, and he was telling everyone he was going to hit the ball out of here,” Collins said. “He has worked, and he is the ultimate teammate. I can’t say enough about that kid. That’s a junior that has spot started and does stuff here and there. That was his time.”
Randen Fillers started on the mound for Greeneville and went five innings. He struck out two, walked three and allowed seven hits.
At the plate Greeneville produced nine hits. Bishop was 2-for-3 with a double and walked twice. Kaine Ricker was 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. Sam Thompson was 2-for-4 and Begley had two RBIs.
Greeneville improves to 36-8 on the year, equaling the win total of last year’s state championship team.
