Red Bay headed to Class 2A semifinals after sweep of North Sand Mountain

For the second time in three years, the Red Bay High School varsity baseball team will be playing in the AHSAA Class 2A playoff semifinals.

On May 5, Red Bay (25-6), in its third consecutive quarterfinal appearance, swept North Sand Mountain 4-3, 13-5 to advance to the next round. Playing at home, the Tigers got a walk-off win in the first game of the series before turning around and routing the Bison 13-5 in game two.

The series opener saw Red Bay win on a walk-off bases loaded hit-by-pitch. The game tied 1-1 after the first inning, Red Bay took a 2-1 lead in the third thanks to a sacrifice fly from Riley Carpenter.

The Bison responded, however, with solo runs in the fourth and fifth inning to retake the advantage. That forced Red Bay, with just three outs remaining for them in the bottom of the seventh, to try to scratch across two runs.

Designated hitter Joshua Thorne led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch; then, a single by senior Jeremiah Thorne put runners on first and second before a bunt single by Jaxson Swann loaded them up.

Carpenter came through again with another sacrifice fly to score Joshua Thorne to tie the game up 3-3. Another walk, this one drawn by Ayden Pruitt, loaded the bases again, leading up to Landyn Lewey being hit by the second pitch of the at-bat, allowing Jeremiah Thorne to trot in for the go-ahead, game-winning run.

“We have a knack, somehow, of getting a hit-by-pitch to walk it off. This is the third straight year we’ve won a playoff game on a walk-off hit-by-pitch,” Red Bay head coach Donovan Hand said. “Two years ago against Lamar County, last year against Mars Hill, and this year Landyn Lewey gets hit with the bases loaded to walk it off.

“But, you know, we just don’t give up. We’ve been in those situations before, we’ve been in some dogfights over the years,” he added. “We were able to get some things going and eventually get over the line.”

At the plate, Carpenter accounted for three of the Tigers’ four runs. But credit is also due to Carson McGee on the mound, limiting the Bison to just three runs (only one earned) off five hits while striking out nine batters.

“Carson has been good for us all year and he battled again in game one,” Hand said. “We made a mistake on a bunt that gave up a couple of unearned runs, but for the most part we played good defense behind him. The outfield played really, really well, making some plays on some balls that we had to run down.”

Game two saw Red Bay jump out to a sizable lead early as the Tigers ultimately went on to win by eight runs.

Jeremiah Thorne, on a full count, led the game off with a solo home run that flew over the left field wall. The Tigers would add four more runs in the inning to take an initial 5-0 lead thanks to a Bison error and back-to-back-to-back RBI singles from Davien Colburn, Sawyer Humphries, and Joshua Thorne.

“Thorne hits a leadoff home run to get us started and then (NSMHS) makes an error in right field and that kind of opens the flood gates. We were able to capitalize on that,” Hand said. 

An RBI fielder’s choice by Pruitt in the second and then RBI singles by Swann and Carpenter in the third made it a 9-2 ballgame going into the fourth where the Tigers were able to tack on two more runs via a single by McGee and a sac fly from Carpenter.

Red Bay’s final two runs were scored in the top of the seventh on RBI singles by Colburn and Swann.

Hand said he felt his team had an opportunity to end the game early by run-ruling the Bison but added that the victory is the most important part, no matter how or how long it takes you earn it.

“I was a little disappointed. I thought we had a chance to put them away early, but we were able to scratch two across in the seventh and finish strong. I was proud of them for that,” Hand said. “This time of year a win is a win. The biggest thing for us was being able to get it done in two games so we have a full week of recovery to get ready for the final four.”

The Tigers were led in the batters box by another three-RBI performance from Carpenter. And toeing the rubber was Jeremiah Thorne who pitched a complete game in the win. Four of the five runs Thorne allowed were earned on nine hits. He finished the game with 10 strikeouts and just one walk.

“There’s really no one else you want on the mound in a series-clinching situation,” Hand said of Thorne. “He had a little struggle there in the middle, giving up a couple of runs, but overall I thought he was really good again for us.”

The series result sends the Tigers once again to the Class 2A semifinals round. 

On paper, Hand said, some may not have expected Red Bay to go this far again this season, but the Tigers, led by experienced leadership, have been boosted by the continually improving performances of early season “question marks.”

“You look at us at the beginning of the year—we lost five key seniors from last year’s team, all starters—you might have been thinking it’s a rebuilding year, but we have gotten better as the year has gone along. And some young guys that we thought were question marks, thought they had potential but weren’t sure, have really come along, too,” Hand said. “Thorne, Lewey Pruitt, McGee, guys that’ve been in the fire a lot, you kind of know what you’re going to get—but Colburn, Carpenter, Swann, JoJo (Joshua) Thorne and guys like that, they haven’t been in these situations. I mean, Sawyer Humphries was playing junior high last year and he’s come in and handled the pitcher staff really well and played well all around. These younger guys have stepped up.”

Red Bay is now one series win away from advancing to the championship round for the first time since 1987.

“Reaching the final four in two out of three years, it’s great. You try not to take stuff like this for granted,” Hand said.

“This is the goal: every year everybody wants to win a state championship, so to put yourself in a position to possibly play for one is a huge deal,” he added. “‘Two wins away.’ That’s what I told my guys. ‘Find a way to win two games and you get to go play for a Map.’’

The team standing in the way of the Tigers’ goal is their postseason nemesis Mars Hill, the program that has eliminated RBHS from the previous two postseasons. Red Bay will host the Panthers for games one and two of the series on Tuesday, May 12 with the if-necessary game three to be played on Wednesday, May 13.