Tigers advance with Reeves’ heroics

Todd Thompson

Hartselle Enquirer

MCCALLA – While the big sluggers took turns blasting shots over the short fence at McAdory in the first two games of the Class 5A state playoff game between Hartselle and McAdory, Jackson Reeves just waited to make something happen.

Something really big.

Reeves, a junior centerfielder for Hartselle, hammered a two-strike pitch over the fence to end a series that featured 15 home runs in two days.

Reeves’ walk-off grand slam gave the Tigers a 7-4 victory and sent Hartselle to the Class 5A semifinals for the third straight season.

Hartselle, the defending state champions, will host Southside-Gadsden in a doubleheader Friday at Reuben Sims Field with a third and deciding game set for Saturday if necessary.

The winner will advance to Riverwalk Stadium for the state championship series.

“We’re two wins from going back to Montgomery,” said Hartselle head coach William Booth. “I said at the start of the season that if we won at least half of our games, we would have a chance to get back to Montgomery.”

Reeves has battled injuries and illness over the last two weeks, but he proved strong in the clutch when the Tigers needed the big hit.

And the series that had seen a season’s share of homers, got its biggest blow on the final pitch of the three-game series when McAdory pitcher Justin Patterson  served up a curveball that Reeves had been waiting on.

“I had only seen two fastballs the whole game so I was looking for a curveball,” Reeves said. “He hung it up there and I was ready for it.”

The grand slam made a winner out of McCaghren, who was a surprise starter against the power-hitting Yellow Jackets.

The side-armed McCaghren got the call from Booth to counter McAdory’s fast-ball craving lineup.

“I just had to throw strikes,” McCaghren said. “I didn’t want to walk anybody. I just had confidence  in what I was doing.

“It’s definitely my biggest win ever.”

McCaghren held McAdory hitless until the fifth inning and he finished the game after allowing just four hits.

He struck out six batters in the complete-game win – the second complete game performance of the series for Hartselle.

“He was the best we had right now,” Booth said. “I can’t say enough about the job Hunter did on the mound. He threw a curve one out of every two or three pitches and that kept McAdory off balance.”

Hartselle scored the first run of the game in the bottom half of the first inning when Ryan Joy led off with a single for the Tigers and scored on a double by Robby Reece.

The Tigers had a chance to add to the lead in the fourth inning when Drew Cowan led off with a double, but McAdory threw out two runners on a double-steal attempt.

The Yellow Jackets got the next batter to hit into a routine groundout to end the inning.

Hartselle posted consecutive doubles from Joy, Logan Cain and Reece – all seniors – to add two more runs to make it 3-0, the Tigers’ biggest lead since the opening game of the series.

McAdory got singles from Davis and Aaron Roy in the top of the sixth to trim the Hartselle lead to 3-2.

But McCaughren settled down and retired the next three hitters on routine flyouts to end the inning.

Brandon Bender led off McAdory’s seventh inning with a double and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Allison to tie the game at 3-3.

After adding another single, McAdory was shut down by McCaghren to end the threat.

Hartselle’s rally came as the Tigers put their first three batters of the seventh inning on base.

Wes Letson – who didn’t play the second round series with East Limestone and didn’t play on Friday against McAdory because of an ankle injury – slapped a single to open the bottom half of the seventh.

John Roberts, pinch hitting for catcher Mac Hendrix beat out a bunt and Joy reached on an error to load the bases.

But McAdory came up with a pair of force outs at the plate to move to within one out of sending the game to extra innings.

“We just hit the ball too hard in that situation,” Booth said. “We don’t hit those that hard and we score a run and the game’s over.”

Instead, however, the Tigers needed to get a clutch hit from Reeves – who had struck out twice earlier in the game – with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

After falling in an 0-2 hole, Reeves slugged a curveball over the fence in centerfield sending the Hartselle bench into a wild celebration with the grand slam.

The home run was Reeves’ second of the series.