One out away from a state title, yet one run away from blowing a lead, Spring Hill Senior Boys (age 14) All-Stars head coach Jimmy Holt rolled the dice and held his breath.
Holt opted to intentionally walk dangerous West Seminole hitter Tyler Hopkins, loading the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh inning of Wednesday’s Dixie Baseball District 6 Tournament championship game at Anderson Snow Sports Complex.
“It was a really tough decision,” Holt said. “We made a decision to walk him and I literally swallowed my stomach a few times hoping it was the right one.”
Turns out, it was. The next batter, on a 3-1 pitch, hit a grounder into the hole on the left side. Shortstop Zeth Rodriguez ranged to his right, gloved the ball and threw to third base for a game-ending force out. With that, Spring Hill collected a state crown and a trip to next month’s World Series in South Carolina, holding on for a 7-6 victory.
“I haven’t had quite this feeling since my kids were born and I’m still trying to process it right now,” Holt said. “I’m really happy for the kids. I think we can compete in South Carolina. When it comes down to it, I give all the credit to the kids and my assistant coaches. I’m just appreciative of the opportunity given to me through Dixie Baseball.”
As it turned out, Spring Hill (5-1) had to survive a grueling pair of doubleheaders on Tuesday and Wednesday. But first, the local crew produced a couple of blowout victories over the weekend.
On Saturday, Spring Hill opened its tournament slate with a 14-4 thumping of Lake Placid, starting off with a leadoff home run by Yoskar Lopez. Anthony Anselmo was 3-for-3, hitting a double and a triple, Rodriguez homered twice and Jaden Holt added three hits.
Lopez, Anselmo and Nick Ciago had three hits in Sunday’s 15-1 win over Sebring, setting up an initial meeting with West Seminole on Monday.
However, heavy rain forced a postponement until Tuesday morning, when Spring Hill knocked off West Seminole, 11-4. Lopez smashed two homers as part of a 4-for-5 performance, Rodriguez went deep twice and Ciago chipped in a dinger of his own.
A few hours later, Spring Hill turned around and pounded San Antonio, 16-4, affording it two shots to claim the championship. Anselmo homered in the first and finished 3-for-4, while Rodriguez and Ciago also had home runs.
In a Wednesday morning rematch, West Seminole forced a winner-take-all tilt by handing Spring Hill its first loss, 9-7. That wasted a two-homer game by Rodriguez, as well as a home run and three hits from Ciago.
Lopez started the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on Anselmo’s groundout to provide Spring Hill with an early lead in the finale. Ciago singled home Anselmo, who doubled, in the third. Tyler Jamieson tacked on a two-run single and Charles Novick’s base hit plated another.
Leading 5-3 in the fourth, Lopez again tripled and scored on an Anselmo single. Anselmo would eventually come around on a throwing error when he stole third.
West Seminole got one back in the fifth and two more in the seventh before falling just short in its comeback bid. Rodriguez, who was also solid on the mound, was named tournament MVP.
“We don’t have any quitters on our team. They play hard,” Coach Holt said. “We have a great offensive team. If one kid is down, someone is picking him up. We’re defensively sound. There’s no real holes. We can compete with anybody as long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to do.
“I really respect that (West Seminole) team. It’s good bunch of kids and good coaches. Both teams deserve to be there (at the World Series) and it could have gone either way.”
The World Series will be held in Bluffton, S.C. beginning Aug. 5, when Spring Hill will take on the Alabama state champ.
“I’m giving my kids a four-day break. We’re starting back on Monday hard,” Coach Holt said. “We’ll be doing some fundraising. There will be a GoFundMe page and we’ll be out in the community raising money.
“The sky is the limit. The heart in these kids is limitless. We can win it, we really can. The potential is there, we’ve just got to execute.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.