A little more than 12 hours before the biggest start of his senior season, Cole Barksdale was wide awake and battling a nasty virus.
Virus or not, Barksdale was determined to pitch and he came through with a dominating performance for Spring Hill.
Barksdale pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings allowing just three hits and striking out nine to help lead the Raiders back to the state tournament with an 8-0 win over Christ Presbyterian Academy in the Class AA Sectionals Friday night.
“You talk about a guy that’s having one of those Michael Jordan type moments,” said Spring Hill coach Paul Lamm. “The way the kid pitched tonight was phenomenal. That was unbelievable.”
With the win, Spring Hill (25-8) secured its fourth consecutive trip to the Class AA State Tournament, which begins on Tuesday. The loss ended the season for the Lions (28-13), which were seeking their first berth in the state tournament.
“I’m so proud of this team,” said Spring Hill senior catcher J.T. Farmer, who had a pair of hits and an RBI. “This is just a really happy moment.”
The Raiders, who were state runners-up last season, laid the foundation for their sectional win by scoring four runs in the first inning.
Darien Prewett sparked the rally by reaching on an error to open the game. Prewett was sacrificed to second on Brandon Haridson’s bunt before scoring on Farmer’s double down the left field line. Jake Usher followed with an RBI single before Connor Pierce capped the rally three batters later with a perfectly placed two-run single that fell between a pair outfielders.
“Those four runs that we got really helped my confidence because I was running off of nothing,” Barksdale said. “That really helped me get through everything.”
The four-run lead was more than enough for Barksdale, who judiciously used his nine strikeouts to strand CPA runners in scoring position during four of the first five innings.
Any hopes for a Lions’ comeback faded completely away in fifth inning when Spring Hill struck for four insurance runs. Barksdale delivered the biggest blow of the inning with a three-run double, which came after Prewett had scored the inning’s first run on a wild pitch.
“To pile on those extra runs right there was huge,” Lamm said. “For Cole himself to step up and give us the big hit right there, that was huge.”
Barksdale did have some trouble in the sixth inning when a pair of Lions reached base with one out. However, Cody Endicott came on in relief to stymie CPA’s rally by getting the final two outs of the inning after walking the first batter he faced.
Endicott also saved a run in the first inning when his diving catch in right field robbed Brandon Jean of what would have been a run-producing hit. Jean also suffered the complete game loss allowing eight runs — four earned — on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
Now with another sectional victory secured, Spring Hill is anxious to return to the state tournament and avenge last year’s state championship loss to Goodpasture.
“We definitely have a chip on our shoulder because we’ve been cut short the past three years,” Barksdale said. “I just hope that we can come back with the ring.”
Source: Justin Lamb ColumbiaDailyHerald
