Logan Simmons’ hit, Cory Bartholomew’s pitching deliver first-game win for Tattnall Square
Tattnall Square’s Cory Bartholomew or Hebron Christian’s Jake Hershman was going to end up being a tough-luck loser in the first game of Saturday’s GHSA Class A private school championship series.
The Trojans’ Logan Simmons made sure that Bartholomew’s sterling pitching effort didn’t go waste, clubbing Hershman’s seventh-inning pitch over the left-field fence for a walk-off home run that gave Tattnall a 2-1 victory and a 1-0 series lead. The importance of the win was made even more critical later Saturday with the Lions winning the second game 5-3.
Simmons didn’t initially know that he had hit a homer until he saw the reaction from Tattnall first-base coach Tom Gorman.
“I knew it was gone when I saw Coach Gorman starting to celebrate,” Simmons said.
With the way that both pitchers controlled things, the littlest offensive break was magnified. Hershman gave up five hits, walked six and struck out twice as many, 12, making it tough for Tattnall to put together a big inning.
The Trojans nearly broke through in the fifth. With Blake Simmons on third and walks to Bartholomew and Garrett Houston loading the bases with one out, the lead was within the Trojans’ grasp. The opportunity quickly faded. Austin Granger grounded to Hershman, who fired home to the catcher James Civelli for the second out, and Civelli quickly threw to first base for the double play, ending the inning.
Bartholomew was up to the pressure-cooker of starting a state title series. Although he allowed 11 hits, he fought through most of the trouble, yielding a single run in the second inning while striking out six Lions hitters and walked three.
“He absolutely just found a way to get the job done,” Tattnall Square head coach Joey Hiller said. “He’s quite a competitor.”
Never was Bartholomew’s grit more evident than in the final two innings. The Lions put the go-ahead run in scoring position each time. And both times, Bartholomew wasn’t fazed. Logan Crawford found himself at third base with two outs in the sixth inning following a Trojans error, but Bartholomew struck out Landon Jones to snuff out the threat.
Things got even more dicey for Tattnall in the seventh as Spence Johns led off with a double. And after a walk to Tyler Calvert and one-out intentional pass issued to Caleb Martin to set up a force out at every base and put three runners aboard, the Lions had a golden opportunity to blow the game open and take the lead.
“In the last inning, I just found another gear,” Bartholomew said. “The bases were loaded; I knew I had to just gut it out.”
Bartholomew struck out Sloan Bennett and Shane Smith to end the inning and keep the tie intact, setting Simmons up for his game-winning blast.
“The biggest thing is just staying the course throughout the game. Whatever happens earlier in the game, it doesn’t matter,” Simmons said. “My focus was just stay the course and stay calm.”