Josh Wilson slides into second base during a playoff matchup with Hatton over the weekend.

by Bart Moss for the FCT

Troy Borden played a pivotal role in leading the Red Bay Tigers to a sweep of the Hatton Hornets in the first round of the 2A baseball playoffs.  Borden hit two home runs and got two critical outs with bases loaded in the seventh inning to save game one.  Borden also got the win in game two for the Tigers.

“We felt like we had a good shot to win if we played to our potential.” said Red Bay head coach Richard Maggerise.  “We were fortunate enough to practice a little Saturday morning before going to Hatton and I believe that helped the players zone in what we needed to do and relax them.”

Borden’s two home runs in the game one led the Tigers to an 8-7 victory.  Borden’s first home run was a two-run shot that gave Red Bay an early 2-0 advantage.  Red Bay increased their lead to 4-0 before Hatton scored four in the bottom of the third to tie the game.  Borden’s second two-run shot in the top of the fourth gave the Tigers the lead for good.  Hatton threatened late in the game with bases loaded and one out but Borden came in and nailed down the save getting a Hatton hitter to fly out to deep left field.

Josh Wilson and Caleb Burroughs each had two hits and two RBIs for Red Bay.

In game two, Borden gave up no earned runs as the starting pitcher, struck out four and allowed only five hits in six innings of work.  Nick Thorn singled in a run in the bottom of the first sparking a three-run inning for Red Bay.  Thorn notched his second RBI in the top of the sixth for the Tigers.

“Troy has been great for us on the mound,” said Maggerise.  “The players really believe when he is on the mound we have a very good chance of beating anybody we see, the key is just being able to score enough runs to win.”

Maggerise said defense was the key to the sweep.
“We said all week that if we make the plays on the dirt we would win, Outfield play has been solid all year so we knew the game would be won on the infield dirt. Had two Total errors in the two game sand in High school baseball if you only commit two errors you’ve got a great shot of winning.”

Red Bay (14-12) will travel to Mars Hill on Friday for the second round of the playoffs and Maggerise said defense would be the deciding factor.

“In our season series we committed 16 errors and they only committed four.  That was critical.  The series went three games with us winning the first game at home 5-4.  They won the following day at their place 8-6 and 9-8.”