Facing elimination in Game 2 of its state championship series against Brookhaven Academy, Starkville Academy dug deep and accomplished what it has already done twice this season – force a Game 3.
With the lights at their brightest and the stakes at their highest, the Volunteers flipped the script from a 12-2 loss on Monday in Game 1 into an 11-2 road victory Wednesday to force a winner-take-all match for the MAIS 4A Division III crown at 6 p.m. Friday in Starkville. With everything on the line the Vols exploded for eight hits and 10 RBI on offense while Brody Burkley dazzled on the mound with seven innings of three-hit baseball against the Cougars. Even though forcing Game 3 is nothing new to his team, head coach Justin Flake said seeing how the Vols came out and played in such a tight moment was special.
“To do that you have to be a resilient bunch, and that’s what our guys have been all year,” Flake said. “We just kind of take our adversity and learn from it and move on, and the sun comes up the next day and it’s a new day. We still trust who we are.”
It also helps to strike first, which SA did. Instead of falling behind 1-0 in the first inning like in Game 1, the Vols plated two runs to take command early command. Blake Little and Brennan Templeton each got on base in the first with a walk and single, and Brantley Berkery grounded out to score Little before Templeton ran home during a passed ball. It was an important start, and one that was a part of the Vols’ comeback plans.
“That’s kind of what we had to do really, show some life early,” Flake said. “We did that and took a lead.”
But the Vols weren’t done feeling the adversity. Brookhaven responded with its fourth home run of the series in the third inning – a two-run blast by Tucker Tarver to knot the game at 2-2 – and suddenly SA was again looking for momentum. Burkley threw a scoreless fourth and his teammates thanked him by exploding for six runs in the fifth, powered by a Grand Slam from Micah Buckner. Joseph Portera bunted to get on first and Owen Couvillion brought him home with another single. Little smacked a ground ball and reached on an error to score Couvillion, and Templeton was walked to load the bases and set the stage for Buckner, who sent the ball screaming out of the park in left field.
“That was a big-time swing,” Flake said. “He got every bit of that ball too. It was a no-doubter. The moment that it was, was deserved for the kid that it was too; just a great kid. You’re excited to see any kid have that moment but Micah pours a lot into his preparation, whether it’s countless hours hitting or in the weight room, he is the prototypical teammate. He is always going to do the right thing for the team and is willing to play any role, but he’s not above walking by the last piece of trash in the dugout and picking it and throwing it away either. The game rewards that type of character, I do believe that.”
The Vols added two more runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh as Burkley rattled off four straight scoreless innings from the mound to help keep SA’s championship hopes alive. He finished the game with seven strikeouts and no walks.
“That’s who Brody has been for us all year as a senior.” Flake said. “If you had to go in there and look back at what has been the biggest games for us on the schedule whether we realized it in that moment, or if we did and Brody didn’t, but he always was in those biggest moments on the mound for us and continues to get outs and not issue freebies. That’s just who he is. He is an out-getter, he is going to command the zone, he is going to pound the zone and let his defense play behind him.”
The Vols are looking for just one last win on the season to capture the program’s first-ever state championship, and Flake said his team knows what’s ahead for them. But they are not worried about all the glitz and glimmer of the big game – they are looking to put together one last game of purely good baseball.
“Everybody knows what’s at stake, but at the end of the day I think we are at our best if we just go and play baseball,” he said. “… There’s something at the end of this, we know it’s either a red trophy or a blue trophy and we know which one we prefer, but at the end of the day we’re just going to go play baseball. We get to go out there as a group one more time. We earned that right as a team to have one more game, so let’s just go embrace that.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
