North Georgia Escapes to PBC Championship
AIKEN, SC - The North
Georgia Saints survived two Augusta State rallies and a
three-home-run day from Shannon Wilkerson to beat the Jaguars 12-11
and earn a spot in the championship game of the 2009 PBC Tournament
in Aiken. The Saints scored twice in the top of the ninth for the
one-run win and will get their chance to defend their tournament
title against Francis Marion on Sunday night.
The Saints won the game with their second straight 12-11 decision
after leading 6-1 and 10-5, only to see the Jaguars come back and
tie the game.
Augusta State struck first in the bottom of the first. With two
outs, Tim Rawlings drew a walk from NGCSU starter Michael Patton
and moved to third on a single Tristan Toorie. With the bases
loaded, Rawlings scored when Alex Walker was hit by a pitch.
North Georgia answered with a five-run explosion in the top of the
second. ASU starter Patrick Lowe walked the first two batters he
faced and was pulled for Stephen Ramsey. Lowe issued four walks in
his one inning of work.
Craig Brisson started the scoring with an RBI single through the
left side followed two batters later by an Andre Airich single with
the bases loaded that scored one for a 2-1 lead. Brisson later
scored on a fielder's choice and Chad Sage brought in two more with
a single.
The Saints collected three straight two-out hits in the third to
bring home another run as Jordan Erisman singled home Nicholas
Fryman.
Augusta State answered in the bottom of the third with three runs
to trim the lead to 6-4. With the bases loaded, Kevin Owens stroked
a double down the left field line that brought home two. Walker
then ground out to short to bring home Toorie. NGCSU starter
Michael Patton the induced two groundouts to get out of the
inning.
North Georgia brought out the big bats in the top of the fourth,
getting back-to-back solo home runs from Brad Hall and Sage. Sage's
shot was to deep center field and bounced on top of the wall before
going over.
ASU’s Shannon Wilkerson, the PBC Player of the Year, cut the
lead to 8-5 in the bottom of the fourth with a towering home run to
left.
North Georgia answered with another big fly in the fifth as Sage
hit his second of the game off ASU reliever Chase Johnston that
scored Andre Airich.
The score remained 10-5 until the bottom of the sixth when
Wilkerson struck again, sending his second home run of the day over
the left-field wall, bringing home Evan Smith, who led the inning
off with a single.
ASU tied the game at 10 in the bottom of the seventh as Tim
Rawlings sent a single into center field to score Smith. That was
followed by a controversial triple from Toorie, who sent a deep fly
to the gap in left center. Brisson, the Saints centerfielder, ran
the ball down and got a glove on it, but it was ruled a trap
allowing Rawlings and Wilkerson to score.
The Saints took the lead once again in the top of the ninth. ASU
second baseman Tony Baker moved to the mound to pitch with one out
and was replaced in the field by Dwight Ashe. The Saints loaded the
bases, thanks to a pair of intentional walks to set up a possible
double play. Sage then sent a roller to short but Ashe bobbled the
relay and no out was recorded as Brisson scored. The Saints added
another run on a Sharrett sacrifice fly to score Airich.
Wilkerson hit his third home run of the day, setting a new PBC
Tournament record, with a one-out solo shot to the opposite field.
But that would be the only hit the Jaguars would get in the
ninth as Saint reliever Jack Rickett retired the other three
batters to end the game.
Brisson finished 4-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI while
Sage went 3-for-6 with the two home runs and six RBIs, tied for the
second-highest amount in a PBC tournament game. Fryman also had two
hits for the Saints.
Blake Hobby (6-4) picked up the win with 1.1 innings of relief
work. Patton went the first six innings, allowing seven runs on
eight hits with six walks and six strikeouts. Rickett picked up the
save with his ninth inning work, his fourth of the season.
Wikerson finished with four RBIs from his three home runs, scoring
five times for Augusta State. Rawlings went 2-for-5 with three runs
scored and an RBI while Toorie was 2-for-3 with a run and two
RBIs.
North Georgia meets Francis Marion in the title game for the
second consecutive year, the Saints beat the Patriots 10-8 in the
2008 championship game.
