Mt. Berry, Ga. - Trailing 11-7 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, (RV) Berry chipped away inning-by-inning, scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Greensboro, 12-11, in the finale of the Fifth Annual Berry Invitational at William R. Bowdoin Field.
The Vikings (9-4) started their rally with a two-run homer off the bat of freshman
Joey Garcia, the first long ball of his career, to make it 11-9 after seven. An inning later,
Dalton Smith scored on a passed ball with two men out to make it 11-10.
Needing one to tie and two to win, the Vikings would opt for the latter. After his big fly two innings earlier, Garcia dropped down a bunt for a single to lead off the inning. Following a walk to
Spence Johns, a sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position for the Vikings with one out. Four more pitches is as long as the game would last, as Garcia scored his third run of the game on a wild pitch to make it 11-all. Then on a 2-1 count,
John D'Amelio chopped a single over the drawn in infield, scoring Johns to touch off another walk-off celebration for the Vikings.
The rally made a winner of
Jake Wohlers, who got a pair of double plays off the bats of Greensboro (3-4) batters in his two innings of scoreless work.
The Vikings pounded out 20 hits in the contest, with 11 different players getting hits. Garcia, Johns, and
Dylan Bailey each had three hits in the game for BC. Of Berry's 20 hits, 17 were singles.
Berry will return to action this Tuesday at Maryville. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
