There are a handful of ways to help yourself out in a tournament run. Playing the fewest amount of innings possible is certainly the best way to go about it. Miller only needed five innings to dispatch Hargrave on Tuesday. On Friday facing fifth-seeded Highland in the VISAA Division 2 semifinals, the top-seeded Mavericks only needed five again as a Jackson Barrett walkoff grand slam shut the door in the bottom of the fifth for a 12-2 win.
“I think the biggest thing was having the guys at the bottom — and that’s always been the story of our team — the guys at the bottom allowing the guys at the top to get the credit,” said Miller coach Billy Wagner. “Those guys (getting on) allow us to flip the lineup and they don’t get the credit. Each at bat they were getting five, six pitches. Even if it was a strikeout, we added to their pitch count. So that’s what we do well — grind out at bats.”
Stu Barrett got the start for Miller and finished with a complete game with five strikeouts. The Hawks started the game off with back-to-back singles and a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 in the first, but Barrett settled in nicely after that retiring 13 of the final 17 batters he faced.
“I think I figured out when I got my stride, got over top of the ball, that I could pound the (strike) zone and just repeat my mechanics really easily,” Barrett said. “We tried to work in and I struggled a bit there early leaving a couple over the plate and then later I started working away and they couldn’t catch up with it.”
Miller tied things up at 1-1 in the first when Adam Hackenberg picked up the first of his four hits on the day, and this one his best, a solo home run to left field. Then in the second, Hackenberg made it 2-1 after Jeremy Wagner reached on an error. After a sacrifice fly from Will Wagner, the Mavericks had a 3-1 lead.
Highland answered with a run in the top of the third after a walk and RBI single. But that would be the limits of the damage. And Miller broke things open starting in the bottom of the fourth.
The Mavericks put up a 4-spot thanks to four walks, an error, singles from Hackenberg and Jamal Litzenberger and a Will Wagner double. Up 7-2 heading into the fifth, Miller delivered the final nail in the coffin thanks to Jack Marshall getting hit by a pitch, Tanner Morris earning his third walk of the game, Hackenberg with yet another RBI single, Will Wagner earning a walk and of course, Jackson Barret’s bomb to left center.
“My first pitch was a curveball so I was just (thinking) I’d get another one and I was just adjusting, getting my foot down expecting a curveball,” Barrett said. “They threw me a fastball and I got my hands through it and I hit and thought “Ah, it’s just in the gap, alright, I’ve knocked a couple of runs in,” but I get around first base and see the ball halfway up the net and I just lost it, went nuts and put my hands up. I was so happy. It’s a moment that gets us into the next game. It was incredible.”
On the day, Hackenberg was 4-for-4 with four RBI. Will Wagner was 1-for-1 with two walks and two RBI. Jackson Barrett was 1-for 3 with four RBI.
The win sets up Miller’s third trip to the state championship game in four years. The Mavericks last state title came in 2006, but at the Division 3 level. Miller will face Atlantic Shores on Saturday at Shepherd Stadium at 2 p.m. The two met previously in the season with the Mavericks topping the Seahawks 10-0 on April 7th. In that game number one starter Ethan Murray threw all five innings and gave up just two hits and two walks.
“We’re super excited, we’ve got our ace (tomorrow),” Jackson Barrett said. “We’ve got everybody in relief. Whatever they throw at us we can throw right back at them.”
Miller baseball's Jackson Barrett talks after advancing to the D2 state title game in First off the Field presented by @PT_acac pic.twitter.com/vr410X2Vpi
— scrimmageplay (@scrimmageplay) May 19, 2017
