Oxford wins county title on Gilman’s double down the line, Jackets’ only hit of the game
By Al Muskewitz
JACKSONVILLE – Baseball can be a crazy game sometimes and Wednesday night’s Calhoun County Tournament final proved it.
Oxford nearly won the county championship being no-hit and got its only hit on the last pitch of the game and did.
Freshman designated hitter Hudson Gilman pulled a double down the third base line with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give the Yellow Jackets a 3-2 win over Alexandria for their tenth county title in coach Wes Brooks’ 17 years at the helm.
“I’m reminded of something Joe Torre said years ago when I was in college and he was managing the Yankees,” Brooks said. “It was after a game where (Derek) Jeter made that flip throw or maybe when he went into the stands to make a catch, but he said about every eight days I see something I’ve never seen in the game of baseball. This was one of those.”
Alexandria coach Andy Shaw certainly would concur. “Never saw that in my life,” he said.
R.J. Brooks opened the seventh by drawing a leadoff walk on a 3-2 pitch after starting out 3-0. Chance Griner struck out, then Gilman ripped Andrew Allen’s first pitch of the at-bat down the line and into the left field corner bringing Brooks all the way around.
“I was just hitting fastballs, dead-red fastballs,” Gilman said. “I knew he was going to give it to me. It was inside, I just turned, just put a good barrel on it, automatic. It was close (to the line). I was super excited when I saw that (umpire’s) arm go across (signaling it fair).”
“They say the game finds you and it found him tonight,” Jackets starting pitcher Peyton Watts said. “It’s such a good feeling to have a win like that, man.”
The hit reminded Wes Brooks of the way his brother Roby – R.J.’s father – scored from first on the game-winner against Samford that gave Jacksonville State coach Rudy Abbott his 900th career win.
That, too, was a shot down the line into the left field corner and Robbie chugged all the way around and slid head first in a muddy plate area. The picture of Brooks from that game was on display at Abbott’s funeral last month.
Ironically, Gilman was going to be Allen’s final batter as the sophomore right-hander had reached his pitch limit. He threw 97 pitches, gave up the one hit and struck out four.
“Our guy gave us a chance to win,” Shaw said. “We got everything we wanted out of him except the win.”
The Yellow Jackets (10-3) could have won the game being no-hit by Allen, but the Valley Cubs got back in it by scoring twice in the sixth off reliever Carter Johnson to tie it at 2.
Sam Wade and Austin West reached safely to open the inning. Pinch-hitter Ty Brown drove home Wade with a single to right and went to second on the throw trying to get him at the plate. West scored on a wild pitch, but Brown also tried to score on the same pitch and was cut down on the relay back to the plate.
Aaron Johnson preserved Allen’s no-hitter and the tie game with a diving catch in left to end the bottom of the inning.
“(The no-hitter) was really cool, but, really, I just wanted to win this game,” Allen said. “I come into every game wanting to win. Nobody really likes Oxford from around here. I think everybody wanted to beat them just as bad as we did.”
Oxford first baseman Hayes Harrison was named tournament MVP. Teammate Sam Robertson was named Most Outstanding Defensive Player, and Alexandria’s Wade was named the Outstanding Offensive Player.
It was Alexandria’s second straight tournament game that ended on a walk-off. The Valley Cubs beat Piedmont with three in the bottom of the seventh in the semifinals. It was Oxford’s first county title since 2019, the last in a stretch of four in a row.
The early part of the game also was reminiscent of Oxford’s 1-0 win over Alexandria in last year’s semifinals. Watts threw five shutout innings — this time as the starter — and the Jackets pushed across an unearned run in the second inning.
Actually, both runs in Oxford’s early 2-0 lead were unearned.
Chance Griner reached with two outs in the second inning when Cubs first baseman Eli Barnes dropped the throw on his grounder to short and then came all the way around when Aaron Johnson misplayed Gilman’s fly to left field.
The Jackets looked like they were going to run themselves out of the fourth on a botched double steal, but some more loose defense by the Valley Cubs saved them again.
With runners at first and second and two outs, courtesy runner Tide Gann took off for second base. The only thing was the bag was occupied by R.J. Brooks and it was uncertain what kind of pickle Brooks was going to get into as he cautiously worked his down the base path.
Alexandria catcher Aiden Brunner threw to second base and the ball sailed into the outfield. It allowed Brooks to race home to make it 2-0 and Gann eventually was out at third to end the inning.
The Valley Cubs made four errors in the game.
“We couldn’t hit it enough to make up for those things,” Shaw said. “You just can’t make those kinds of mistakes against good teams.”
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Championship game
Oxford 3, Alexandria 2
Alexandria 000 002 0 – 2 5 4
Oxford 010 100 1 – 3 1 1
WP: Carter Johnson. LP: Andrew Allen. 2B: Aaron Johnson (A), Hudson Gilman (O).
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Most Valuable Player: Hayes Harrison, Oxford
Outstanding Offensive Player: Sam Wade, Alexandria
Outstanding Defensive Player: Sam Robertson, Oxford
Rickey Garrett, Saks
Pelham Parris, Pleasant Valley
Dakoda Willingham, Jacksonville
Cooper Tinney, White Plains
Noah Reedy, Piedmont
Austin Estes, Piedmont
Judson Billings, Donoho
Nic Thompson, Donoho
Austin West, Alexandria
Ian Cartwright, Alexandria
Andrew Allen, Alexandria
R.J. Brooks, Oxford
Chance Griner, Oxford
Carter Johnson, Oxford
Peyton Watts, Oxford [*** read more]
