PLANO -- Plano had no intentions of letting an 8-4 lead evaporate in the last inning of Game 2 against Hinckley-Big Rock on Saturday, but it happened. And after playing two more innings, Reapers junior Kevin Gwilt had enough. He singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth as Plano took both games from the Royals, 12-1 and 9-8.
"The coach just told somebody to step up so I tried to," Gwilt said of his clutch hit. He was hitless in four attempts leading up to that at-bat.
Kevin Day got the win as he finished the seventh inning and then dominated in the eighth and ninth. He retired the last five batters he faced, including a perfect ninth against the top of Hinckley-Big Rock's lineup.
Coach D.J. Cocks had a good feeling after seeing the way Day was throwing.
"He doesn't usually come into relieve a lot and you could tell he was struggling at first," Cocks said. "But once I seen after the first batter (in the ninth) he was bringing it and I knew we were going to win the game."
Day improves to 2-3 and Plano goes to 10-5-1.
Getting to the last inning for Plano included great offense, poor defense and a lack of control on the mound. The Reapers offense was powered by Mike Kerr, a senior center fielder. He homered in the first and sixth innings and drove in five runs. This was all against Royals starter Aaron Ward, and Kerr had an idea what helped him be successful.
"I played against him the fall league," Kerr said of Ward. "I caught him and that gives you an advantage because you know what he has and what he likes to throw."
The home runs were his second and third on the season, and he added an RBI double in between to go 3-for-5.
But the Reapers' struggles were evident in the top of the seventh. After Kerr's second homer, Plano took an 8-4 lead into the seventh. It sent out Kenny Leibundguth to try and shut the door. But after a pair of walks and single by the Royals, the bases were loaded with no outs.
The next batter hit a sharp grounder to sophomore Alex Ramirez at third, but he was unable to handle it and the throw to first was late. Leibundguth, then pitching to Hinckley-Big Rock's Jake Paver, saw two opportunities fall short of getting an out. First a high pop-up to first baseman Johnny Simmons bounced in and out of his glove in foul territory. The very next pitch, Leibundguth had a chance to catch a foul ball, but it spun out of his glove. Eventually Paver took advantage, driving in two runs with a single to left and knocking Leibundguth out of the game.
Plano got out of the inning tied at 8 when a hard-hit ball up the middle took just the right bounce for the Reapers shortstop, who stepped on second for the final out of the inning.
Two innings later, Gwilt delivered the decisive hit.
"We missed a bunt opportunity to move the runners over and then at the end the shortstop had a ball bounce right into his glove," said Royals coach Mark Olson said, whose team dropped to 3-9. "But that is baseball -- sometimes it bounces your way and others it doesn't." Baseball: Plano 12-9, Hinckley-Big Rock 1-8
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