By Michael Lindsay
The Upperman Bees (26-12) clinched their third Class 3A state baseball tournament berth in the last four years Friday night at Red Bank as they won a winner-take-all game three against the Lions, 7-4.
Upperman won game one on Thursday 4-3 in 9 innings before Red Bank rallied for a 6-5 win in game two, setting up game three with a trip to the state tournament on the line.
“Three times to the state tournament in four years is pretty impressive,” said Upperman head coach Wes Shanks. “We’re not going to be satisfied to just be there, so we have to play our best baseball.
“We came into the series with a game plan, and I don’t know if this game went to plan at any point in game one, two or three,” added Shanks. “We exhausted all of our options and had to out-depth Red Bank. They would never go away, and there’s a reason they were here in the first place.”
Senior center fielder Justin Fallon put game three out of reach in the top of the seventh inning with a two-out inside-the-park home run to extend Upperman’s lead to 7-2. Red Bank scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh before senior catcher Rookie Allison went in at pitcher and shut the door with a strikeout, sealing Upperman’s return to Murfreesboro.
“Justin had some injuries early in the year, but in the seventh inning the guys hits an inside-the-park home run,” said Shanks. “We ended the game with Rookie Allison, and he’s a true gamer. He changed the dynamics of the series by shutting them down on the base paths. Rookie has played about every position on the field this year, and he’s something special for Upperman baseball.”
Evan Huddleston went 2-3 in game 3 with a double and 2 runs scored. Braden Green, Chris Wirsing and Fallon drove in 2 runs each while Wirsing also recorded the win at pitcher with 7 strikeouts in 6 and one-third innings.
Upperman’s senior class featuring Cody Lowe, Julian Llano, Rookie Allison, Justin Fallon, Aiden Wyatt, Alec Wilson, Evan Huddleston and Karsen Holroyd is making its third trip to the state tournament in their career. Upperman won the Class 3A state championship their freshman year and finished runners-up as sophomores.
“Four of five of these guys started in the state championship,” said Shanks. ”
State tournament action for the Bees is scheduled to start on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Smyrna High School against Chester County.
“We already know our side of the bracket,” said Shanks. “We’re going to reward the guys and enjoy this one first, but the coaching staff is getting right back to it. I’ve seen the spark in our guys’ eyes. We’re going to hang a batter in the outfield, but it’s up to them to determine what color it is.”
Game 2:
Game 3:
