PHEBA — A good game plan can help an underdog overcome overwhelming odds.
After a 17-3 loss to Hebron Christian on Tuesday in Game 1 of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class A championship series, the Humphreys Academy baseball team knew it was going to have to try anything and everything Thursday to have a shot at taking Game 2 and forcing a winner-take-all finale.
With Game 1 starting pitcher Payton Griffin moving to catcher for Hebron Christian in Game 2, Humphreys Academy figured to have an advantage on the bases if it could get runners on. After all, Griffin, the team’s backup catcher, struck out 12 in six strong innings in the opener, so he likely wasn’t going to be armed and ready to stop the Rebels if they challenged him on the bases.
But favorites have the odds on their sides because they have difference-makers. If Griffin played that role Tuesday, Channing Tapley moved to center stage in Game 2. Fittingly, the senior right-hander delivered a memorable finale that helped the Eagles end the school year in style.
Tapley allowed only two hits and struck out 14 Thursday to lead Hebron Christian to a 10-0 victory in five innings that helped the program claim its first MAIS state title.
“I was just trying to throw strikes,” Tapley said. “I have a good team behind me, and I was confident they were going to stop it. If they got on base, they got on base. I was confident we were going to make the outs if that happened.”
Tapley, who will play baseball at Mississippi Delta Community College in the fall, struck out the side in every inning except the second. The only ball Humphreys Academy put in play was a fly out to right field. The Rebels had five baserunners on two singles and three walks.
Tapley said he felt good in warmups and received a lift from his teammates, who he said were pumped up prior to the game. He said he didn’t have any doubts he was going to have a good game or that Griffin was going to be able to handle him in one of the biggest games in their careers.
“He did a good job,” Tapley said. “He got the job done. It came out the best way we wanted to. That is what we have always worked for and we did it, so we are all satisfied.”
Landon Hill had two hits and scored two runs, and Tapley had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs to lead the offense. Clay Faulkner, Griffin, Elijah Parrish, John Thomas Weaver (two RBIs), Rodger Pratt, and Thomas Gable also had hits, and Dash Turman scored a run to cap a 20-5 season for the Eagles.
Hebron Christian coach Todd Griffin, who is the father of Payton, said the championship says a lot about his team because it overcame injuries and roster turnover. A hand injury to Hill, the team’s starting catcher, forced Griffin to move to catcher for the better part of the season.
“I thought he did as well as we could expect him to do,” Griffin said. “I knew he is not a catcher and that there were going to be some balls, breaking balls in the dirt, that were going to get by him, but he did as well as we expected him to do. We are pleased with how he did.”
Todd Griffin said he talked to Payton and told him the Eagles really didn’t have any other options at catcher, so he was going to have to fill in for Hill. He said Payton knew the mechanics of how to play the position after catching “many years ago” and that he was going to have to do the best he could.
Griffin said he wouldn’t have blamed Humphreys Academy for trying a game plan that included a lot of movement on the bases in an effort to disrupt Tapley’s concentration. But Tapley squelched that notion by getting ahead of batters and commanding the strike zone with his fastball. He worked in his off-speed pitches after the first few innings to keep the Rebels off balance.
“He was locked in,” Griffin said.
Payton Griffin, who will play baseball at East Central C.C. in the fall, spent the majority of the season as a pitcher, pounding the palm of his catcher. Without Hill, Griffin had to get used to teammates like Tapley, who has an overpowering fastball and a knee-buckling curveball. He said he was more than willing to step in because he knew the team had a chance to add a baseball state title to the Class A crown the boys basketball team won earlier this year. He said he knew Tapley was going to do his job and shut the Rebels down and save his arm from repeated throws to try to retire baserunners.
“He was in the zone today,” Griffin said. “It wasn’t that hard today. He was putting it on the money, and I was just catching it.”
Griffin admitted he and his teammates felt the expectations of many who believed the Eagles were going to win the state title. He said he and his teammates put that idea out of their minds because they realized nothing was going to be given to them. In a way, it was a similar feeling to the one Griffin faced when he had to move to catcher to replace Hill. Without any other real options, Griffin didn’t hesitate.
“I just had to get the job done,” Griffin said when asked what he thought when Hill suffered his hand injury. “I had to do whatever the team needed me to do to help it keep winning. I tried to think about the team.”
Said Hill, “He is a die-hard athlete. He will do anything to help the team. He did very well. He went from being a pitcher and a first baseman to catcher. He did very well with the change.”
As a result, Hebron Christian was able to celebrate another title on a beautiful day. Hebron Christian took a 1-0 lead in the second on a single by Pratt. The Eagles tacked on five runs in the third. The key hit was a two-run single by Weaver, another senior. Two more runs in the fourth set the tone for the fifth and a piece of history.
Faulkner scored the deciding run on a steal of home after the Rebels threw to second base in an attempt to get the third out on a stolen base. The Eagles didn’t immediately recognize Faulkner’s run had forced to 10-run mercy rule, so the celebration was muted at first before a cavalcade of cameras and cell phones emerged minutes later to capture the medal ceremony and the presentation of the state title trophy.
Griffin said the Eagles didn’t think about what happened in Game 1 because they didn’t want to lose their focus. With a difference-maker like Tapley on the mound, Hebron Christian showed Thursday it could foil any game plan.
“It felt good to win (to win a baseball state championship),” Tapley said. “After all of the hard work and heat and rain we have been through, everybody put out. It was just a good year.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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