Columbia delivered Buchholz some payback Friday night.
In dramatic fashion too.
With two outs and the bases loaded, relief pitcher Abraham Martinez induced a pop up from Aidan Kastensmidt that went high in the air above shortstop Madden Mann, who had just bobbled a ground ball to allow the Bobcats to score a run. But Mann quickly redeemed himself, catching the fly ball while dropping to his knees in the infield to preserve a 2-1 win for the Tigers at CHS.
The victory came just one night after Buchholz, which was the Class 6A runner-up last season, had beaten Columbia 7-1 in Gainesville.
“I just wanted to win the game,” Mann said. “I just wanted to win the game for the team. I didn’t want to let them down.
“After the beating we took (Thursday), this really boosts our morale up. We were feeling a little down, but right now we feel like we can take on anybody.”
Mann gave the Tigers (2-1) an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning when he scored on a wild pitch from BHS relief pitcher Sterling Tetreault. That run turned out to be huge as Martinez ran into serious trouble in the top of the seventh, allowing back-to-back singles to Tyler Thurmond and Angel Irizarry to start the frame.
Martinez struck out his next two batters but then allowed another single to Roen Kresak to load the bases. That’s when Blake Brewer hit a ground ball to Mann, who couldn’t handle it cleanly to allow the Bobcats (1-2) to finally score a run.
Luckily for Martinez, and the rest of the Tigers, Mann made the final big play to finish off a big win.
“I wasn’t scared but I was like, ‘we need to beat this team,’” Martinez said. “When I saw the ground ball and my friend Madden make the error, I was like, ‘all right. We’ve got it next time. Next pitch.’”
The seventh inning drama capped off a night that was a pitcher’s duel throughout. Columbia starting pitcher Kyler Keen and Buchholz starter Reed Thomas went toe to toe on the mound, with Keen carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning while Thomas retired 13 straight at one point after allowing an RBI single to CHS catcher Casen Maddox in the first inning.
Keen finished with eight strikeouts and allowed just one hit — a leadoff single by Roen Kresak in the top of the fourth — in 5 1/3 innings, though he did walk four that helped push his pitch count up to 79. Thomas, meanwhile, left after allowing a leadoff single to Colton Mote in the sixth, who was then picked off in a rundown by Tetreault.
“Kyler Keen pitched his behind off,” Howard said. “That was a huge run we scratched across in the sixth inning and obviously Abraham stepped right in and became one of the guys. That’s a big win for us against a good ball team.”
The Bobcats’ best chance to get after Keen was in the first inning as Keen began the game walking Kresak before Brewer reached base on the first of Mann’s two errors on the night. Keen then struck out the next two batters but followed that up with another walk to Drew Almond to load the bases.
Keen, though, managed to get out of the jam by getting Thurmond to ground out to Columbia second baseman Goose Lord. From that point, Keen only allowed one baserunner over the next three innings.
“Coming in I knew they didn’t have a shot of hitting me,” Keen said. “I was just blowing the fastball by them, spinning the slider well.”
Keen convinced Howard and assistant coach Joey Edge to let him go back out for the sixth inning, but after striking out Brewer, he walked Kastensmidt and was pulled.
“I told Joey to give me one walk and he gave me a walk,” Keen said. “I wanted to keep going but Abraham got it done.”
Columbia is lucky Buchholz didn’t then score a run. Kastensmidt proceeded to steal second base and was able to advance to third when Maddox’s throw down to second sailed into center field.
With Kastensmidt on third, Martinez appeared to get away with a balk that could’ve tied the game.
“We were very fortunate, very fortunate,” Howard said. “The umpire still says he didn’t balk so we’ll stick to that.”
Columbia’s offense, which managed just two hits, had to manufacture both of its runs. Mote began the night offensively with a leadoff walk and Mann reached on an error before both runners pulled off a double steal to set up Maddox’s RBI single.
It wasn’t easy scratching across a run in the sixth either. After Mote was picked off in a rundown by Tetreault following a leadoff single, Mann walked before stealing second.
Mann advanced to third on a sac fly by Tison McCray before scoring on a wild pitch that bounced in the dirt and flew past Thurmond behind the plate.
“Stealing and praying and certain things went right,” Howard said of the insurance run. “Thank god they threw a wild pitch, otherwise we probably don’t score. That’s part of the game.”
Now Howard and this players are hoping it can spark a hot start to the season. It doesn’t get any easier next week as Suwannee and Episcopal visit Lake City on Wednesday and Thursday, but after Friday’s win, the Tigers feel like they can compete with anybody.
“This win can propel the whole season,” Keen said. “It’s a season-changing win here. We’ve been looking at these two games since last year when they swept us and I’m glad we got one.”