FLEMING ISLAND – Tanner Bauman likely woke up yesterday thinking it was just another birthday, turns out it was anything but that.
Earlier in the day, Bauman received numerous texts throughout the day wishing him a Happy Seventeenth birthday. Among them were several Fletcher players who wished him a happy birthday along with messages sorry to spoil your birthday.
Hours later, it was Bauman getting the last laugh.
Turns out he will likely probably never forget his seventh birthday, as Bauman went 3 for 4 leading his fourth seeded Atlantic Coast Stingrays to a shocking 7-0 upset win over top seeded Fletcher in the District 2-8A semifinals.
The scrappy Stingrays were not intimidated by the higher seed Senators, especially after a 2-1 loss in the regular season.
Atlantic Coast jumped on them early with single runs in the first and second inning to take a 2-0 lead.
The game remained 2-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth inning as the Senators put runners on first and second with no outs but couldn’t get the clutch hits to get back in the game.
Part of that was the phenomenal pitching of senior Lance Bolton, who worked his way out of the jam with a full count strikeout to end the threat.
“First I want to thank god and also my teammates,” Bolton said on his team getting the early lead and getting run support. “They hit the ball really well, especially Tanner (Bauman), who went 3 for today on his birthday.”
The strikeout seemed to fire up the bats of the Stingrays, who put it away with a five run fifth inning.
Junior Cameron Rosario stole home to start the inning and the Stingrays never let up.
With runners on second and third and no outs, Jack Edwards delivered a 2 RBI single to left center to score both Mykelti Jordan and Brant Bullard for a 5-0 lead.
A misplayed bunt by the pitcher on the throw home allowed two more runs to score for a 7-0 lead.
“We knew if we got Fletcher down they would fall and you could see it in their faces and body language they were down so it was time to go for the jugular,” Bolton said.
Fletcher tried to rally in the bottom of the seventh but Bolton, who threw a little over 103 pitches, went the distance and kept the potent Senators offense off the scoreboard.
“I wasn’t tired at all, all year I have been building up for this,” Bolton said. “I couldn’t do this without the guys behind me. ”
Of course the extra motivation of hearing what Fletcher did to Bauman likely helped fuel the adrenaline as well.
“Fletcher was texting him earlier in the day, Happy Birthday but sorry to ruin your day and night,” Bolton stated. “So we were all motivated tonight.”
Bauman echoed that comments.
“They were texting me all day saying Happy Birthday and you can imagine what they were saying to me,” a laughing and excited Bauman stated.
Now the joke is on Fletcher (20-4), who for second straight year will miss the playoffs as the top seed after being eliminated in the semifinals back-to-back years.
The Stingrays (13-12) will play host Fleming Island Thursday at 7 p.m. for the District 2-8A title.
“I think it says we can play with anyone, it shows we are underrated,” Bauman said. “We can celebrate overnight but we know tomorrow we have to get back to practice and try to achieve our goal of winning the district title.”
Fleming Island 6, Oakleaf 2
Ahead 1-0, second seeded Fleming Island knew one run wasn’t enough as against third seeded Oakleaf, they needed more of a cushion.
They answered the call, loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth.
A passed ball scored the first run of the inning and allowed the runners to move to second and third.
Adam Peck delivered a two RBI single to right to increase the lead to 4-0, still with no outs.
With runners on the corners, a fly ball was dropped by the right fielder allowing another run to score.
A ground ball to third was fired home to gun out a runner at home, despite the runner leaping over the catcher.
A fielders choice scored another run for a 6-0 lead and just like that the Eagles had responded with a five run fifth inning to take control of the game.
However, the Knights wouldn’t go away and responded with two runs of their own, one in the sixth and one in the seventh inning. However, with two runners on base in the seventh, a deep fly ball to center was caught just short of the warning track to clinch the 6-2 victory.
The win clinches the Eagles (17-7) second straight trip to the playoffs and also puts them in the district championship game Thursday at home against Atlantic Coast, in a rematch of the title game last year.
