WEST POINT — Rookie is a perfect baseball nickname.
But Chance Wilson could need a new one if he continues to perform like he did Friday night.
With the season on the line, the junior right-hander surpassed the expectations of his coach and went all eight innings to lead the Oak Hill Academy baseball team to a 4-3 victory against Winona Christian in Game 3 of the second-round Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA playoff series.
“He has really stepped up. Thank goodness,” Oak Hill Academy coach Marion Bratton said.
Wilson relieved Riley Pierce and threw about 30 pitches in three innings Thursday in a 5-1 loss in Game 1. On Friday, he came back and pitched a complete-game five-hitter after Oak Hill Academy won Game 2 7-6.
For his accomplishment, Wilson is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“Never did I expect to pitch an entire game,” said Wilson, a 6-foot-2, 175-pounder. “I was really surprised my arm let me go that long.”
Wilson, who has been on the school’s baseball team since seventh grade, said he didn’t think he would be able to go eight innings because he has been bothered by tendinitis in his right elbow for the past two or three years. But his arm never entered into his thinking once the sixth inning rolled around and Bratton and his coaches considered going to the bullpen.
Wilson wasn’t having any of it.
“I was thinking, ‘It is still a close game and the way I am pitching, I think I can hold them to three runs,’ ” Wilson said. “If we end up scoring enough runs and winning this game, I (felt I would) be able to pitch all eight innings. I felt really good about that. I just wanted to keep going out there and keep pushing. The defense did a really good job of backing me.”
The victory propelled Oak Hill Academy into a matchup against Prairie View (La.) in the semifinals of the state playoffs. Game 1 will be at 5 p.m. today in Bastrop, Louisiana. Game 2 will be Friday in West Point. If needed, Game 3 would be approximately 30 minutes after the previous game.
Earlier in his career, Wilson won the pitching award for the Oak Hill Academy junior varsity team. Back then, Bratton said Wilson was a “smooth operator. After being limited due to the tendinitis, Bratton said Wilson has found a way to take advantage of a fluid motion, a great balance point, and good control.
Bratton figured Wilson would go five innings to give the Raiders a shot to win the series. As the game progressed, though, he said Wilson kept asking him for the ball and retiring the side. He said he watched as Wilson’s confidence grew and he helped set the tone for the Raiders to push through to win their second game of the day.
“Our bunch rallied around him,” Bratton said. “I think him putting it on the line like he did Friday night for us, I think they said, ‘Well, he has gone through some adversity in his career and he is putting it on the line for us, so let’s see if we can help him out,’ and they did.”
Trevor Turner’s RBI single in the eighth helped Oak Hill Academy complete the sweep in West Point. The Raiders trailed 3-0 entering the sixth. They scored once in the sixth and capitalized on back-to-back bases-loaded walks in the seventh. Turner and Riley Pierce each had two hits.
Wilson was in command on the mound, mixing a curveball, changeup, and fastball for his biggest victory of the season. Bratton said Wilson beat Kirk Academy earlier in the season, but he said Wilson stayed “cool, calm, and collected,” which isn’t the mind-set you would expect from someone whose nickname is “rookie.” In fact, Bratton said Wilson performed with the mentality of a “gambler.”
“I told him, ‘Son, you have earned my respect,’ ” Bratton said. “I said, ‘That was one of the most fantastic pitching jobs I have had in a real long time.’ I am very proud he did what he did. It means a lot to a coach to have a player do what he did Friday night. It means a lot to the team, and I think he is aware of that.”
Bratton believes Wilson has the potential to be a “really good” college pitcher if he decides to put the work in to realize that goal. He said Wilson more than put the work in to get the Raiders to the semifinals, so he is eager to see how Wilson builds on that confidence.
Wilson, who also plays guard on the school’s basketball team and tight end and defensive end/linebacker on the football team, isn’t sure what his future holds. He has played baseball since he was 4 years old and admitted there was a time when it “got old,” but he said this year baseball has become more fun. As of right now, he said baseball is his favorite sport, so he doesn’t know how that is going to affect his athletic choices.
After surprising himself Friday, Wilson is looking at things differently, though. He also might approach it with a new nickname after helping his team win an extra-inning Game 3 and flashing the potential coaches have seen for several years.
“I am going to keep pitching until the year ends and have a good senior year, hopefully, and see what it leads to,” Wilson said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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