By By By Jim Luke / special to The Star
April 28, 2002
PHILADELPHIA Tornado coach Scott Hill was worried before the game that the Greene County Wildcats would come into the second game of the 3A State Baseball Playoffs with revenge in their eyes. That proved to be the case as the visiting Wildcats took a 14-4 win to even the best-of-three series at a game apiece.
Greene County's Antonio Anderson drew first blood in the game as he led off with a double, moved to second on a ground out to first and crossed the plate on a single by Tommy Lott. Lott tried to advance on the throw to the plate, but Tornado catcher Jonathan Holland rifled a throw to second baseman Dustin Turner to get the second out of the inning and dampen an early threat.
The Wildcats broke the game open in the third inning with singles by Luke Mills and Chancy Rogers, paired with an outfield error allowed Mills to score. With two outs in the inning, Elliot Burch drew a walk and Pat Burch singled to drive in Rogers. Dustin Eubanks followed with a home run on the right centerfield wall to drive in three more runs and give Greene County a 6-0 lead.
Philadelphia made a game of it in the bottom of the third with four runs. Holland got the Tornadoes going with a single. Shay Grady then singled and Tyler Threadgill walked to load the bases for Kip Turner. Turner singled to drive in Darius Grady, running for the catcher Holland. Cameron Tawater reached on an error with two outs before Jonathan Booker ripped a single to drive in Shay Grady and Threadgill. Booker was thrown out at second as he attempted to advance on the throw to end the inning.
That would be the end of the scoring for the Tornadoes, but the Wildcats had more scoring to do in the game. Anderson struck out for what would have been the second out of the inning in the top of the fourth, but reached base when the ball skipped back to the screen. He later scored on a fielder's choice by Lott to give the Wildcats a 7-4 lead.
Neither team was able to get anything going offensively until Greene County had a scoring run of seven runs in the top of the sixth to ice the game. The seven runs came on only two hits as the Tornadoes committed two errors in the inning to go with two hit batsmen and three walks. Mills, Anderson, Rogers, Lott, Pat Burch, Eubanks and Clay Clark all scored in the inning for the Wildcats to give them their final 14-4 margin.
Even though the score indicates a game dominated by Greene County, Philadelphia had opportunities to stay in the game but just could not come up with a key play or hit at the right times.
The win advances Greene County's record to 30-5 while Philly fell to 19-10. The two teams are scheduled to meet Monday at 7 p.m. in Leakesville. Booker, 3-5, took the loss for the Tornadoes while Taylor Kimble picked up the win for the Wildcats.