As the home crowd at John Kurtz field on Georgia College’s West Campus erupted with cheers after the Bobcats, ranked No. 2 in the conference, won their quarterfinal series against the seventh-seeded USC Aiken Pacers, the visiting team along with their fans sat in an angry silence as a controversial call followed by back-to-back errors allowed the deciding run to cross the plate an inning before.
The series itself was as close as you can get, as the Bobcats dropped the opening game on Saturday 4-1, after phenomenal pitching by Pacers’ starting pitcher Joel Haney almost shut the Bobcats out. In the end, a two-run home run from shortstop Scott Huntley in the second inning proved to be deciding factor, as the single run produced by GC in the sixth inning would be the only thing the Bobcats could get across the plate, setting up a must-win doubleheader the following day.
After a lackluster performance the previous day, the Bobcats started the first game of the doubleheader off right with a four-run second inning thanks to an RBI single from sophomore Palmer Sapp. Sapp must have shaken up the Pacers after that single, as two of the other three runs in the inning came off of a hit batsman with the bases loaded and a wild pitch that went past the catcher. After the Pacers made it a 4-2 game in the top of the fifth inning, Palmer Sapp came up to the plate again in the bottom of the fifth and answered with a three-run blast over the left field fence. From there, the Bobcats were in complete control, allowing only one more run en route to an 8-3 victory and a decisive game three.
Both teams saved their best performances for last, as the final game was full of big plays on both sides of the ball. The Bobcats struck first, however, as sophomore Mason Spivey poked an RBI single through the right side of the infield to give GC the lead. Unfortunately, the Bobcats were unable to hold onto that lead, as the Pacers managed to tie the game back up on an RBI single after a leadoff triple from third baseman Kaden Blankenship. After those two runs though, the game became infinitely more interesting.
It started with the Pacers taking the lead in the fifth on a ball down the left-field line that seemed to be inaccessible to left fielder David Julian, as he raised his arms up to signal the umpires he could not get to the ball. The umpires on the other hand either did not see Julian’s hands up, or saw the ball in the corner, as they allowed the batter to continue running. By the time Julian was able to realize the ball was still live and throw it to the infield, the runner was already at third. Thankfully, the next batter was retired for the third out to stop him from scoring. After the lead went to the Bobcats before being tied once more, the real fireworks began.
Senior Cam Hill stood on first base as Sapp stared the pitcher down waiting for the full count pitch to be delivered. Instead, the pitcher stepped off the rubber and looked like he threw an errant throw to first base as the first baseman dove as though the ball had gone past him. However, as Hill raced towards second base, the pitcher tossed the ball he had fake-thrown to first to the second baseman, but as Hill touched second base, the umpire motioned that he had avoided the tag from the second baseman, bringing loud complaints from the Pacers dugout and fans that took several minutes to calm down. After play resumed, Hill ended up crossing the plate on back-to-back errors from the Pacers’ shortstop, and when senior pitcher Aidan McAllister sat the Pacers down in order in the ninth to end the game and advance the Bobcats to next weekend’s tournament, the difference in emotion from the opposing fans was massive.
With the doubleheader sweep, the Bobcats advance to the four-team, double-elimination bracket this weekend to decide the winner of the 2022 PBC Tournament. Their first opponent will be the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes, whom they will play Friday, May 13 at 7 p.m.