With pitch counts on the mind and a state title on the line, Carpet Land rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to walk off Elkhorn South in the Class A Divisional Playoff Championship Saturday at Den Hartog Field.
Landon Sandy entered the bottom of the seventh as a pinch hitter and jogged 90 feet with the bases loaded after being hit by a pitch as the team of Lincoln East players walked off Elkhorn South 6-5.
After winning a state title in the high school spring season as Lincoln East, the Spartans have now won two state titles over the last three months.
Both Carpet Land and Elkhorn South, who combined for nine different pitchers Saturday, will represent Nebraska in Rapid City, South Dakota, at the American Legion Region 6 Tournament on Aug. 2-6 to fight for a spot in the American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina.
People are also reading…
Pitch counts from Saturday’s contest are still in effect in regional play.
“Anytime you are playing for a state championship, it’s a big day,” Carpet Land coach Mychal Lanik said. “I could tell when our guys showed up at BP (batting practice), they were ready to play hard today. It’s a testament to them. They’ve played hard for about 90 games in a row now.
“To fall behind 4-0 and scrap back, scrap back and scrap back, take the lead and then take the lead again is just a testament of the toughness and resiliency of the kids on our team.”
Elkhorn South jumped to an early 2-0 lead on Chase Nelson, but Nelson settled himself and did not allow the big inning as the Storm loaded the bases quickly on the 6-foot-1 right-handed hurler.
Nelson tossed 2 1/3 innings as the first of five different Carpet Land pitchers, passing the torch to a stellar bullpen performance from Luke Larson, Kai Burkey, Ryan Clementi and Carter Mick over the final 4 2/3 frames.
The Spartan bullpen gave up just four hits and a run, allowing the Carpet Land bats to get warm for a final ascent.
Clementi, who had already graduated before Lincoln East’s high school state title, pitched two innings of relief in a bounce-back performance after a rough outing at Bellevue West in the American Division playoffs.
“It was just confidence,” Clementi said. “I needed a little confidence booster. I was leaving my stuff up last week and you know if you leave it up, good hitters hit it. Today I was just focusing on fastball down, curveball down and have my other pitches down with it. It ended up working out and obviously we had some great pitching today and some great hitting.”
But Clementi means more than just an arm for Carpet Land and coach Lanik.
“If my kids grow up and be like Ryan Clementi, I’m going to be a really proud dad,” Lanik said. “Ryan embodies everything we want. He shows up early, he stays late and he works hard. He’s an incredible teammate and a great baseball player. To add him to the mix this summer was a no brainer, because of the kind of kid he is, the kind of family he comes from and the leadership he provides.”
Carpet Land’s bats finally got going in the bottom of the third inning, plating three runs, before taking a 5-4 lead in the sixth.
Elkhorn South rallied to tie the game 5-5 in the seventh before back-to-back singles, a walk and Sandy being hit by a pitch rallied Carpet Land in walk-off fashion.
Carpet Land will face the runner-up from North Dakota at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, while Elkhorn South will face Rapid City at 6:15 p.m.