No moment is too big for Nolan Slaymaker.
First, the freshman worked out of a two-man-on jam in the top of the eighth inning. Then, he delivered his team a series lead with one swing of the bat.
Slaymaker smoked a pitch to left field that just flew over the outstretched glove of Hunter Bolinger before rolling to the fence to score Ayden Phillips from first base, lifting No. 5 seed Columbia to a come-from-behind 2-1 win against No. 4 seed Mosley at home in Game 1 of the Region 1-5A quarterfinals Wednesday night. After Phillips crossed home plate, he led a stampede of teammates toward second base, who celebrated by dog piling Slaymaker.
The Tigers can clinch the series Thursday when the teams meet again at 4 p.m. for Game 2 back at CHS.
“That was fun,” Slaymaker said. “I love being with my team and I loved feeling that support. We all feel like a family.”
Phillips had reached base when he was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Mosley reliever Derek Ortiz then got Tison McCray to pop out to short, bringing Slaymaker to the plate with two outs.
Slaymaker said he was looking for a curveball, but when a fastball came soaring down the heart of the plate, he quickly turned his hands and connected to give the Tigers (16-10) the 1-0 series lead. It was Slaymaker’s first at-bat of the night, with Columbia coach Chris Howard inserting him into the lineup after Goose Lord had gone 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts.
“I just had to do whatever I could for the team, just anything to get a runner in,” Slaymaker said. “I had to hit a ball deep.”
The Dolphins (16-12) had a chance to take the lead themselves in the top of the eighth. Slaymaker allowed a two-out single to Fletcher Taylor, who then stole second to force Howard to intentionally walk Xavier Demro, but Slaymaker got Mason Daniels to pop out at first base to keep the game tied.
Slaymaker had taken over for Ayden Phillips, who pitched seven stellar innings where he struck out nine and allowed just an unearned run on two hits and three walks.
“I’m so proud of us man,” Phillips said. “All season we’ve battled through it. We’ve lost one-run ball games, and we just stayed positive through everything. And finally, it turned out in our way. I’m just really proud of everybody.”
As well as Phillips pitched on the mound, he found himself down 1-0 in the third inning thanks to an error. He issued a leadoff walk to Jack Massey, who was then bunted over to second by Ryan Harless. Massey later got caught in a rundown between second and third base with two outs, but Columbia second baseman Madden Mann’s throw to Lord at third was off target and it rolled past the base, allowing Massey to score for the 1-0 lead.
But from there, Phillips was basically untouchable. He didn’t allow a hit after the second inning, and he stranded runners at third base in the fifth and seventh to hold the Dolphins at one run.
“Ayden was outstanding,” Howard said. “We threw it around and gave them a run. You couldn’t ask for anything better from him.”
The Tigers, meanwhile, ran themselves out of two chances to give him support. That included Mann getting caught in a rundown between third and home in the third inning, while Aulden Jenkins was thrown out at third in the fifth after getting fooled by the hidden ball trick.
Max Schuler was also thrown out trying to steal second in the fifth.
“Dumb baserunning,” Howard said. “We’ve been doing that a lot lately. Hopefully we’ll get it right and not do that anymore.”
But finally, in the sixth, Columbia broke through. Bytnon Edge beat out a bunt single to lead off the frame and Mosley starter Chase Wood hit Trayce McKenzie with a pitch, ending his night after 5 1/3 innings where he allowed six hits while striking out five batters.
Taylor took over and got Phillips to hit a grounder to Massey at second base, but his throw was a little off at first, causing Phillips to collide with first baseman Brady Lee. In all the confusion, Edge kept running past third and made it all the way home to tie the game at 1-1.
The collision forced Lee to exit for the night, though he managed to tag out Phillips.
“I’m running, I’m going as hard as I can because I’m trying to get there, and it was a bad throw.” Phillips said. “I’m not going to lie, I’m hurting too. He was a big boy, but I’m just glad we got something positive from it.
“I was just on the ground hoping to God he (Edge) was coming home.”
Taylor kept the game tied by ending the frame with a strikeout, but Mosley went through three more pitchers after that. Christian Zediker and Peyton Stokes each saw action in the seventh before Ortiz worked out of a bases-loaded jam.
The Dolphins, though, still have their top two arms fresh to pitch in the series. They opted not to throw Ryan Harless (2.01 ERA) or Carter Payne (1.91 ERA) in Game 1, rolling with the No. 3 Wood instead.
It was a move that nearly paid off.
“We did everything wrong we could’ve done tonight, and we scratched and clawed and got a win somehow,” Howard said. “Everything was going bad for us. But credit to those kids. They fought hard and got the job done.”