To say that it was fitting is one thing. Maybe, like baseball players like to say — they were just due. But Tuesday’s VISAA Division 2 quarterfinal between third-seeded Covenant and sixth-seeded Nansemond-Suffolk was emblematic of one thing in particular on the diamond — in just one play, the momentum can swing a seemingly infinite number of times. After the dust settled, the Eagles held serve at home with a 3-2 win, but not without a wild sequence of events in the bottom of the sixth.
“How ironic that this happens five days after we were almost dog piling at Miller and a flukey play ultimately cost us,” said Covenant coach Jeff Burton. “We were ready to celebrate on that play and then quickly felt the agony of defeat. I feel for (NSA) because they’re one of my favorite teams to play and they just go about things the right, have a great coaching staff, just are a first class team. They were a beneficiary of a not-well executed squeeze play and then suddenly it turns into two runs our way.”
The situation in the bottom of the sixth was tense. Covenant was trailing 2-1 but got a leadoff single from Luke Burton, a bunt single from Jake Haney and then a walk from Will Moore to load the bases with no outs. The score seemed destined to at least tie it if not be broken open in favor of the Eagles.
But then after a ground out where the Saints got the force out at home, the Eagles got caught in a rundown with Haney getting tagged out. With Moore trying to take third, the throw from home to third was there for what looked like a sure third out, except it sailed high into left field allowing Moore and Tyler Mahone to both score and make it 3-2.
“With Jake in the run down, I knew I had to get to third so we’d at least have a lead runner there,” Moore said. “When Jake got tagged I thought we were about to run ourselves out of this inning and how horrible that’d be. And then the ball went into the outfield and you just get up and go home. You turn around and Tyler’s coming home too. You see him coming in and it’s just the greatest feeling in the world.”
While NSA was able to small ball a runner to third base in the top of the seventh, with Luke Burton simply in command in his four innings of relief, a pop fly to right ended the game and gave this group of Eagles seniors and underclassmen their first career VISAA tournament win.
“That was the moment we’ve been waiting for for three years because we haven’t gotten it done in the state tournament yet,” Luke Burton said. “I was on top of the world. Everything came together, finally.”
The Saints came out strong in the first inning netting both of their runs after a walk, balk and RBI double from Robby Tew which was followed by a wild pitch and Kieran Conway getting an RBI groundout. From there, the story was Nic Psimas who threw four innings and gave up just one run. Add to it, Covenant’s starter in Moore settled in to strike out four batters and give up just one hit over the next two of his innings.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the third, Covenant got on the board with Declan Kent single, a sacrifice bunt and Luke Burton’s RBI single to make it a 1-run game.
“The entire year my job has been to get on base and make things happen,” Luke Burton said. “My goal when I’m up there is just to get on no matter what happens.”
With Luke Burton coming on in relief for Moore on the mound in the fourth, the Eagles kept the Saints off the board to set up the insanity that was the bottom of the sixth.
On the night there were just eight hits between both squads with Covenant getting five and NSA getting three. Luke Burton was the only batter for either squad with more than one of them as he finished 2-for-3 with an RBI.
On the mound for the Eagles, Burton and Moore both struck out four batters.
Covenant will face Atlantic Shores on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
“Given the results, I’ve got to imagine that the next couple of games are going to close games,” Jeff Burton said. “I hope my seniors and underclassmen rise to the occasion, deal with the emotion and enjoy the moment.”
