WEST POINT — Frozen between second and third base, Ken Dill knew he better make a decision quickly.
If you have seen the Oak Hill Academy baseball team play this season, it shouldn’t be difficult to figure out which way Dill decided to go.
True to the Raiders’ aggressive style of play, Dill went to his right to third base, even though Prairie View catcher Nolan Wharton had scooped the pitch in the dirt and was holding the baseball with Dill in his sights.
But things don’t always happen like they’re supposed to in the playoffs. If they did, some people would have argued the Oak Hill Academy baseball team wouldn’t have made it into the third round, or have won another Game 2 at home to force a Game 3 to determine which team earned the chance to play for a state title.
Somehow, Dill slid safely into third like it was meant to be. The only thing the script called for next was a hero.
Cue Heath Ford.
Buoyed by the confidence gained from an RBI single in a clutch spot in the second inning of Game 2, Ford capitalized on the drawn-in infield and smacked a hard ground ball past the second baseman. A sacrifice bunt by Chance Wilson provided the insurance run Oak Hill Academy needed, and Drew Riley set the side down in order in the top of the seventh to cap a stellar relief outing in a 6-4 victory in the deciding game of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA North State Championship series.
The win secured Oak Hill Academy (16-7) a date in the state title series against Silliman Institute. Game 1 will be Tuesday in West Point. Game 2 will be at Silliman Institute in Clinton, Louisiana. If needed, Game 3 would follow approximately 30 minutes after the previous game.
“I read curveball out of his hand and I thought it was going to be in the dirt,” Dill said. “I got caught in no man’s land for a little bit. I just froze, and I think the catcher froze, too. I just decided to go and I just got under it.”
Dill said third baseman caught the throw, but he said he had enough time to read where he was positioned to slide to the back side of the base and maneuver past the tag. The third baseman then dropped the ball, so Dill likely would have been called safe even after his slide.
Next man up
Dill didn’t have any time to wipe his brow or exhale after avoiding a pickoff that would have erased him as the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Instead, he re-focused on the next man up — Ford — and prepared to sprint home. After all, when you have been on a ride like this one that included series victories against Riverfield Academy and Winona Christian, you’re bound to believe something good is going to happen.
“I probably had more confidence in them than they did,” Dill said of the guys who were going to hit next and drive him in. “I had a ton of confidence in them. I knew they were going to get the job done.”
Ford believed, too. He heard the confidence from his teammates in the dugout. When he looked out at the infield, he realized all he had to do was hit a hard ground ball somewhere and it was going to get through. The fastball from right-hander Tristan Shanks scooted past a diving second baseman into the outfield for a 5-4 lead.
“We know nobody is going to give up and we’re going to fight to the end,” Ford said. “They call us the comeback kids for a reason. We know we’re not going to give up.”
Ford kept the inning going by stealing second base. Drake Riley then was hit by a pitch. On the first pitch to Wilson, Ford and Riley executed a double steal. Wilson, the winning pitcher in Game 2, delivered at the plate with a bunt down the first-base line that the first baseman fielded and tagged him out, but Ford scored to account for the final margin.
Riley, a junior right-hander, pitched a three-up, three-down seventh. After pitching seven innings Tuesday in a 4-3 loss in eight innings, Riley allowed just one hit in 6 1/3 innings in relief of starting pitcher Kaleb Darnell. Riley walked one and struck out four. The effort came after he surrendered nine hits and seven walks (10 strikeouts) Tuesday.
“I remember Drew was saying Tuesday right after he was done pitching that his arm felt fine,” Dill said. “He has been saying it all week. I had a ton of confidence in him.”
Chemistry lesson
Dill said the bonds the players have built from playing together for so long have created a chemistry that has been special this season. The weather tried to spoil it. Limited to about six practices on their game field due to the rain, according to Oak Hill Academy coach Marion Bratton, the Raiders have practiced on the “high ground” of the football practice field, inside their practice facility, and in the parking lot adjacent to the school.
Untraditional methods often result in unpredictable occurrences, so it’s fitting Oak Hill Academy is one of only two teams in MAIS Class AA still standing. Not many people — aside from possibly Bratton — would have wagered at the beginning of the season that that would have been the case. But here the Raiders are, confident and primed to unleash their aggressive baserunning, pinpoint pitching, and slick fielding on another team.
“We have said this is a pretty good group of seniors in all sports this year,” Dill said. “It just so happens that we finally get to (play for a state title) this year in baseball.”
Prairie View had three hits and capitalized on two errors to score four unearned runs in the top of the first. Oak Hill Academy sent the minimum to the plate through three innings and didn’t have good at-bats against Grant Rambo. But the right-hander, who relied on curveballs, walked Trevor Turner and Riley Pierce to open the fourth. Dill’s double scored two and helped the Raiders regain the momentum. Following an out and a wild pitch, Ford came through with an RBI single to make it 4-3.
“Our coaches came in and said, ‘We don’t just play one inning a game, we play seven innings,’ ” Ford said. “Our goal was to scrap away each inning, and that’s what we were able to do and we were able to come out on top at the end.”
Oak Hill caught a break in the fifth when it appeared Prairie View was going to extend its lead. Leadoff hitter Cody Kinnaird reached on an error and then went to third on an error on a pickoff play. The second error nearly turned into a third, as the relay throw to third base eluded Pierce at third. Pierce retrieved the ball and attempted to throw from live ball territory next to the Prairie View dugout, but his throw appeared to go off the head of a Prairie View player standing outside the dugout. The umpires initially signaled as if they were going to bring Kinnaird, who scored, back to third. But upon further review, they ruled him out.
Unconventional ways
Oak Hill Academy capitalized on the opportunity in the bottom half, as Turner blooped a double between the third baseman, shortstop, and left fielder in short left field. He stole third and scored on the catcher’s throwing error.
The runs might not have scored in the most conventional manners, but Oak Hill Academy applied the pressure and made things happen. If the Raiders are going to follow the script, they likely will score more runs like that in the next series. They also likely will lose Game 1 and win the final two and then celebrate.
This time, though, they will play at home first, so even though Dill said coming from behind hasn’t gotten old, he said the Raiders will try their best to gain the advantage Tuesday.
“We have been doing it all year,” Dill said. “We’re just a scrappy group. We know how to win a game. We just decide to play in the right time.
“I am hoping we can pull the first one out and not make it as interesting as it has been.”
Ford said no one at the beginning of the season believed the Raiders would get this far, so there’s no point in stopping now. After all, there’s really only one way to go when you’re in no man’s land.
“I think we were projected to finish fourth in our district at the start of the year,” Ford said. “We love to prove people wrong. I don’t think anybody thought we would be here, but we got here.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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