Lions Total Jaguars
The Calvary Lions staged a dramatic extra-inning come-from-behind, walk-off win to defeat the Valley Center Jaguars 3-2 to clinch a playoff spot in the 62nd Annual Lion's Tournament.
Calvary won their division by going a perfect 3-0 in the tournament and are advancing to the semi-finals and will face Christian High School in an early 9:00 am game on Thursday at Alliant University.
The game was tied at 1-1 through 7 innings and things looked bleak when Valley Center scored one and took the lead in the top of the eighth inning. But the Lions showed tremendous character by scoring two in the bottom of the inning and walked-off with the win when Sam Hebert ended the game with an RBI single to end it.
Once again, Calvary's pitching was top-notch. Senior Sam Sheehan got the nod and threw 6 2/3 innings allowing no earned runs while scattering 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7. Sheehan did not have his best stuff, but that did not matter because he rose to the occasion and got the outs when he had to. He pitched well enough to win, but Calvary's defense, which has been superb throughout the tournament, faltered and allowed both of Valley Center's runs to score without the benefit of a hit.
Russell Harmening closed the game down by tossing 1 2/3 innings and striking out 3. He picked up the win in relief putting him at 4-1 on the season.
Down 1-0 in the bottom of the 4th inning, Calvary managed to tie the game when sophomore Matt Hartman singled. He displayed excellent baserunning ability when he advanced to second and third on wild pitches. Neither pitch bounced far away from the catcher, but his anticipation and training allowed him to single-handedly put himself in scoring position, creating an opportunity for Russell Harmening to drive him in with a single to knot the game at 1 apiece.
Both pitchers continued to shut down their opponents and the game remained deadlocked through regulation. The Jaguars jumped into the lead, once again taking advantage of a Calvary error.
With the score 2-1 heading into the bottom the eighth, leadoff hitter Davey Carpenter got the ball rolling by dropping a Texas-league single that fell between the shortstop and centerfielder. With one out and Carpenter running on the pitch, Hartman lined a solid single to right-center putting the tying run on third and the winning run aboard. Harmening came through once again by lining a double in the right-center gap scoring Carpenter to tie the game. With the winning run only 90 feet away, Hebert ended the game when he fought off an inside pitch and dropped the ball in front of the centerfielder for the game winner. It was Calvary's first walk off win of the year and Hebert was mobbed by his teammates.
The win puts Calvary into double digits. They are now 10-4 on the year.
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