Lancers rally three times, nip Pioneers in seventh

After walking Amherst leadoff batter Jesse Whitt in the top of the seventh with Heritage holding a one-run lead, Pioneers pitcher James Womack rang up his 14th and 15th strikeouts on a night when he threw more than 100 pitches.

He thought he caught Matt Stinnett looking at No. 16 to end the game with Whitt on second, strutting off the mound with a fist pump and a victorious shout. But didn’t get the call, and the Lancers rallied for a dramatic 7-6 Seminole District victory, Friday night at Heritage.

“It looked like a strike to me,” Pioneers coach Paul Johnson said. “When the catcher doesn’t move his mitt, it looks like a strike. That’s the way it goes. We can’t change that.”

Given the reprieve, after watching Whitt move to third on Womack’s fifth wild pitch in two innings, Stinnett lofted a bloop hit to center, tying the game at 6-6. Seventh and eighth batters Kirby Anderson and Caleb Bryant then delivered consecutive singles to score Stinnett with the go-ahead run and force Johnson to relieve Womack with Trey Stump.

He got out of the threat by getting Trevor Woodson to pop out to shortstop Allen Seufert, but the damage had been done with the Lancers rallying to tie or take the lead for the third time on the night.

Amherst coach Mike Padgett went to his bullpen and brought in Dakota Stinnett, his top starter, to pitch the seventh after Brett Ashwell relieved Cody Stinnett in the fifth. He survived a two-out scare to record his first save.

Dakota Stinnett gave up back-to-back hits to ninth batter Eric Coleman—who was starting only his second game behind the plate for the Pioneers after breaking his nose on a pitch at Amherst—and left-handed leadoff hitter James Carter, whose sixth-inning solo shot off Ashwell into the trees in left lifted Heritage to a 6-5 lead. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, setting the table for Trevor Darragh, who was 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored on the night.

Working quickly,Stinnett induced Darragh to pop up to Trevor Woodson in center for the final out.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I was a little nervous right there for a second,” Matt Stinnett said of Heritage’s last-gasp threat.

“They’re probably the best hitting team in the district,” Padgett added of the Pioneers. “They do a great job of swinging the sticks and with Womack on the mound, that makes them extremely tough. I’m extremely proud of my guys coming in and battling from beginning to end.”

Heritage had opportunities to break the game open early, but Seufert lined into a double play with Rondell Hamlett on third in the second and left the bases loaded after scoring two runs in the third to take a 5-2 lead.

“Early on, we just couldn’t get the hit we needed, when we had bases loaded twice that kept us from getting a little breathing room,” Johnson said. “We couldn’t get that hit.”

Amherst, after striking out 15 times — including five times in the fifth inning alone, when two Lancers reached on wild third strikes — finally did.

“Great rally,” said leadoff batter Chris McDaniel, who reached base three times despite going 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. “We stayed behind each other the whole time and that’s what really kept us going.

“We’re finally getting things clicking, focusing on the little things, and we’re hoping to surprise everybody come playoff time in the district.”