HAMILTON — Several months ago, Graham Pritchett was prepared to walk away from the game he had played since he was a youth, a game that brought him satisfaction and purpose.
So it was ironic that last Saturday, the senior shortstop walked away — make that ran, albeit in celebration — as his seventh-inning RBI single sent Hamilton High School to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 2A North State title series.
It was a moment Pritchett will remember forever, as much for the cheers and hugs and high fives he received as it was a reminder of what he could have missed.
Days before he hammered the walkoff hit to center field in Game 2 of the playoff series against Eupora, Pritchett sat in the home dugout at Hamilton High”s baseball field contemplating where he could be.
“I don”t know what I would be doing if I wasn”t on this team,” said Pritchett, a senior. “I”d still come to all the games, but it would be hard because I”d be watching guys I know play when I know I should be out there.”
Pritchett, whose questionable behavior once forced coach Lewis Earnest to risk losing one of his better players, realized several months ago he needed baseball. But the game needed him, too. The Lions certainly needed him last weekend, as much for his timely hitting as his fielding at shortstop.
“I don”t know that we”d be where we are without him,” Earnest said. “You gotta have somebody there you can depend on.”
Pritchett was that guy. Like anybody else, he has had some bad games. But he also has made a lot of plays, many others wouldn”t have made in the infield. He is hitting .325 with 11 RBIs.
Perhaps his most timely performance of the season came Saturday in the sixth inning against Eupora. After watching the Lions take too many fastballs and swing at too many breaking balls, Pritchett singled to break up a no-hitter by Charles Morton.
“I was just tired of him striking me out,” said Pritchett, who struck out in his first two at-bats. “I knew when I went to the bat I was going to hit the ball.”
Hitting can be contagious, so after watching Pritchett grab hold of a Morton fastball, his teammates did the same. Parker Rye reached on a fielder”s choice, moved to third base after a wild pitch, and scored on a triple by Chase Reeves.
In the bottom of the seventh, trailing 2-1, Ethan Earnest doubled with one out. Earnest stole third as Cole Gill struck out. With two outs, Austin Lewis singled to tie the game. Austin Earnest followed with a single.
Pritchett, standing in the dugout, said he looked at teammate Cojuante McMillian, who was nervous.
“I told him, ”Don”t worry man. I”m about to end it right here. Game over,” ” Pritchett said.
Pritchett had a similar conversation with Rye, who follows him in the lineup.
“Don”t worry about it. I got it,” Pritchett said, confident he could help the Lions take a step closer to a state championship.
“I hope you do!” Rye replied.
He did.
With Pritchett at the plate, Lewis stole third then watched Pritchett hit single up the middle.
“I haven”t had that kind of hit in my life,” Pritchett said. “It was wonderful.”
Pritchett, 18, is back to hanging with guys on the baseball team, or other close friends — not the wrong crowd whose antics once threatened to send him down the wrong basepaths of life.
“I had a lot of straightening up to do,” he said. “It wasn”t hard to straighten up. It was just stupidity on my part. … It”s a lot easier to not just hang out with them.
“I stopped doing what I was doing. I”m not going to say what it was, but it was all my friends that I was hanging out with, hanging out with friends I shouldn”t have been hanging out.”
Reeves (6-0) has allowed just 18 hits in 37 innings, good for an ERA of 0.38. The University of Mississippi signee has 70 strikeouts and 17 walks. He one-hit Eupora in Game 1 of the series. Reeves is batting .519 with 22 RBIs and a team-leading seven home runs. Kyle Dahlem (.379) leads the Lions with 25 RBIs.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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