by Zachary Harmuth
As the sun and temperature went down Wednesday night at Centennial High School‘s baseball diamond, so did the Cougars chances of beating the Spartans.
Summit relief pitcher Karlton Turcios struck three Cougars out in the bottom of the seventh to stop a comeback and ensure the 5-3 Spartan victory.
As Centennial took the field in the top of the seventh inning up 3-2, Cougar pitcher Christian Crown had allowed only three hits, and struck out four batters. With just three more outs the Cougars would walk off the field with the a win in Centennial’s last Class AAA District 11 game of the season.
Instead the Spartans caught fire.
Summit outfielder Cody Campbell got on with a walk. Then third baseman Wade Lopiccolo managed a bunt single that advanced Campbell to second. Catcher Ethan Keuhl, with Summits second bunt in a row, got on base safely and advanced the runners. So, bases loaded, no outs, suddenly Summit was sitting nicely, poised to tie the game.
Whether the next pitch got away from Crown or if Billy Lowe, his catcher, muffed it does
not matter. What matters is that the ball ended up behind the umpire long enough for Campbell to come safely home from third to tie the game at 3.
Next, Nate Sunday cracked a daisy-cutter just left of second base, which brought Lopiccolo around to score and take the lead for the Spartans, 4-3.
Short stop Nate Burdick came up with a sacrifice worm-burner of a bunt to bring in Summit’s fifth run, and third of the inning, giving them a little cushion on their lead.
By the time the Cougars got off the field, a 3-2 lead turned into a 5-3 hole. Out of the seven batters in the inning, more than any other inning in the game, Summit more than doubled its offensive output in six previous at-bats. The Spartans finished with five hits in the game. Centennial finished with seven.
Then, in the bottom of the seventh, last chance for Centennial. The Cougars needed two runs to go to extra innings. They needed to repeat their two-run fifth inning, when second baseman Deon Sanders and first baseman Hank Curtis drove in runs, when Centennial took a 3-2 lead after being down 2-1 since the third.
Instead they got Tucios, who moved from centerfield and who singled earlier in the game, to pitcher for the sixth inning to replace Zach Mather. Tucios, throwing fastballs that snapped wickedly in the night, and bugs-bunny off speed pitches, walked two batters and allowed just one hit in the seventh inning, Most importantly, he methodically racked up three strike outs to win the game, as the Cougars could not hit his fastball.
Bailey “Big Wiz” Wisnowski and “Prime Time” Sanders each had two hits for Centennial.
Nate Sumner had two hits and an RBI for Summit.
Centennial falls to 18-11 (10-8 in District 11).
Summit improves to 19-9 (12-6 in District 11).
The Spartan win finished a three-day, three-game series between the two teams. Summit won 8-7 Monday and Centennial 10-2 on Tuesday.
For other Williamson county baseball scores, records and schedules click here.
Please join our FREE Newsletter
