Bobcats march on in post-season play
Phil Campbell’s lone senior, Mason Swinney, homered in his first at-bat and last at-bat to power the Bobcats to the third round of the playoffs by sweeping Plainview 9-1 and 6-4 Friday.
The Bobcats (27-6) will host Elkmont (18-11) Wednesday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Game three, if necessary, will be Thursday at 5pm. Elkmont eliminated Hokes Bluff in a two-game sweep.
Swinney opened game one with a bang. With a runner on base, Swinney – down in the count with two strikes and one ball – got the perfect pitch and sent the ball into the five o’clock sun that was at the perfect angle to make the ball almost invisible.
When the baseball landed, it was well beyond the left-centerfield fence.
Caught up in the adrenaline and celebration, Swinney almost fell rounding first because of some lumps in the Plainview infield. He recovered easily and crossed the plate just after teammate Sage Raper, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice following a leadoff single by catcher Bryant Anthony.
In the top of the second inning, the Bobcats tacked on three more runs. Bryant Hyde singled to left field, scoring Hunter Baker, who had reached on a leadoff triple.
Hyde scored on a line drive single to center by Cole Pace. Pace capped off the scoring on a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield by Swinney to give Phil Campbell a 5-0 lead.
Hyde roped an RBI-double to center in the top of the third inning to score Kyle Pace, who reached on a leadoff single, giving the Bobcats a 6-0 lead.
Baker added insurance runs for Phil Cambpell in the fourth on a two-RBI single to right, scoring Raper and Cam Habada, to make the score 8-0.
The Bobcats’ final run came in the fifth inning on an RBI-single by Raper scoring Cole Pace.
Plainview scored their only run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Habada got the game one win, pitching a complete game. The junior lefty allowed three hits and one run and struck out six.
In game two, the Bobcats fell behind 1-0 to Plainview in the top of the second inning. Phil Campbell responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning to take a 5-1 lead.
After a leadoff walk of Baker, Jacob Barnwell got the scoring going with an RBI single to tie the game.
Phil Campbell grabbed the lead for good on a two-RBI single by Swinney scoring Hyde and Barnwell to give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead. Habada added two more insurance runs on a single scoring Anthony and Swinney to give Phil Campbell a 5-1 lead.
Plainview wasn’t about to go away quietly on their home field, scoring three runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Bobcat lead to 5-4.
Swinney capped off a great series with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to give Phil Campbell the 6-4 lead.
Cole Pace got the win for the Bobcats, going five and two-thirds innings, allowing six hits and four runs. He walked four and struck out five. Eli Taylor got the save, pitching the rest of the game, allowing no hits or runs.
