AISA BASEBALL PLAYOFFS: Early homer doesn't bother Knights in sweep of Morgan Academy
Macon East pitcher Jackson Todd gave up an early home run but settled down and came back to lead the Knights to a win over Morgan Academy and a berth in the AISA state semifinals. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
CECIL -- Jackson Todd’s first pitch was blasted out of the ball park.
His next few pitches weren’t much better, resulting in a pair of walks that threatened to end his pitching stint before the first out was made.
“Obviously, it’s not my best performance,” Todd said. “It’s nowhere close to my best performance. Throughout the season, I’ve pitched much better than that but I got the job done. Our team came out and hit the ball, scored 11 runs. Without them, we wouldn’t have won that game.”
Macon East Academy followed up a 9-2 win over Morgan Academy with Todd’s three-hit gem, helping the Knights to an 11-5 win and a sweep in the best-of-three quarterfinal series at Macon East Academy on Tuesday night.
Todd struggled with control at times, but allowed the leadoff home run by Speedie Pernell and a leadoff home run in the third inning by Cade Henderson. The only other hit he allowed was a fly ball that was misplayed in right field. He struck out 10 and walked six in five innings of work.
“They came out and hit my fastball,” Todd said. “I couldn’t find the strike zone with my fastball and I had to make adjustments with my curveball. I had to make adjustments on the mound and dig through it, but we came out with the win. That’s all that matters.”
After Pernell’s home run and back-to-back walks to lead off the game, things looked a bit shaky but first-year Macon East coach Christian Coston never lost faith in his hurler.
“He’s a real good competitor,” Coston said. “Tonight wasn’t his best stuff and he knows that, but we were going to stay with Jackson because at the end of the day he’s our guy and we trust him. We knew he would snap out of it. He pushed through, persevered and got it done.”
The Macon East junior settled down and retired 15 of the next 18 batters he would face, helping the Knights complete the doubleheader sweep and advance to the Alabama Independent School Association Class AA semifinals at Paterson Field next Tuesday.
Macon East Academy (25-13) will play the winner of the Clarke Prep-Lowndes series. Morgan Academy ends the season at 13-13. The win on Tuesday night marks the fifth consecutive trip to the semifinals for the Knights, dating back to a sweep by Morgan in the 2019 quarterfinals.
“We’ve had some ups and downs,” Coston said. “At times, I questioned whether we would get there, but as a coach and as a competitor I thought we would figure it out at the right time. I think we’re playing our best baseball right now and that’s a good sign. Our team is honored and blessed to be representing in the final four.”
The first game was a pitcher’s duel between Macon East’s Bryant Grimes and Morgan’s Barron Frazer, with Grimes throwing a four hitter in a complete game performance and benefitting from an early burst of offense that saw the Knights score six runs, four earned, in the first two innings.
After giving up six runs on four hits, Frazer settled down and allowed just two hits over the next 16 batters. He finished with 13 strikeouts before running out of pitches and leaving the game in the sixth inning.
“We came out hot and we were hitting his fastball,” Todd said. “He made the adjustment on the mound and started throwing his slider. He found his slider, but then we caught on to it and started scoring more runs off of him.”
Todd, Patrick Ernest and Parker Ruskin all delivered two-run singles to turn back the Senators in the first game.
“I was pleased that we came out with some energy and we came out of the gate with six runs in the first two frames,” Coston said. “Then we went into a lull and tried to coast through the game, we thought it was enough. That’s disappointing, but in the end we won two and we’re moving on.”
In the two games combined, Todd went 4 for 8 with four RBIs, Ernest went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, Ruskin went 3 for 7 with two RBIs, Carter Hopson went 2 for 5 with an RBI and Thad McKinney went 3 for 6 with an RBI.
For Morgan, Pernell went 3 for 5 with a home run, a double and two RBIs. Jake Sams went 2 for 3.
And while the Knights weren’t dominant, they were efficient, playing 14 innings of error-free ball and finding enough production on the mound and at the plate to advance to the semifinals once again.
“This season has been an up-and-down season,” Todd said. “We started off the year and were called selfish and everything possible. I think that gave us motivation to come back and win a few games. We dug a hole and then we’d come back up. That’s baseball. You’re going to have your ups and downs, you stop hitting some, but our pitching has been good all year. It feels good to get back to the semifinals again, but we’re looking to do better than that and win a state championship.”