Sports
Duluth Rallies to Force Game 3
After being shut out 3-0 in the opener, the Wildcats exploded for five homers in Game 2 for a 17-8 win. Game 3 will be played at Franklin Field at 2 p.m. today.
It was the best of times and the worst of times for Duluth Friday as the Wildcats opened the first round of the Class AAAAA state baseball playoffs at Franklin Field in Duluth.
The host Wildcats couldn't buy a hit off Wheeler's ace righthander in Game 1. Senior Sam Bragg tossed a no-hit shutout through six complete innings as Wheeler blanked Duluth 3-0. But It was a much different story in Game 2 as the Duluth Wildcats staged a homerun derby, pounding the visiting Wheeler Wildcats 17-8. (Both teams are Wildcats.)
The two teams will meet at 2 p.m. today (May 7) to decide which team progresses in the playoffs and which one calls it a season.
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Wheeler Coach Jeff Milton's evaluation of Bragg's performance in Game 1 was vastly understated.
"He threw well," Milton said of senior flamethrower Bragg, who will head to Georgia Perimeter College on scholarship next year.
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Alan Peters provided the offensive spark Wheeler needed in Game 1. He homered to left in the first inning then drove in Trey Birdsong with a single in the third. He belted a leadoff triple in the sixth and scored on Kyle Allen's double.
Then came Game 2 and a five homerun explosion by Duluth (17-8) .
The teams locked up in a see-saw battle through the first five innings.
Duluth looked like it might pull away in the fourth inning when Eric Sutor opened up with a homer to left. Relief pitcher Tobin Keaton retired the next two batters, but then gave up back-to-back homers to winning pitcher Chris Rich and Alex Raffensperger to give Duluth a little wiggle room at 7-4.
But Wheeler battled back with three runs of their own in the fifth inning. After Kevin Anderson doubled to left center field to start the inning and Bragg walked, Peters, who went 6-for-6 in the two games, blasted a two-run double to right field to make it 7-6. Allen then drilled an RBI single to tie the game again.
But Wheeler had no answer for what happened next -- a 10-hit explosion by the host Wildcats in the seventh inning highlighted by Evan Dumas' grand slam.
"I don’t know that I’ve never seen so many balls (leave the park), especially in that last inning," Milton said. "It will be tough today, but we've got to have a short memory."
The turnaround was something new to Duluth Coach Matt Champitto also.
"I’ve never seen going from a one-hitter to (15) hits and 17 runs," he said. "I’ve never seen anything like that."
