By REID TUCKER
The Paxton Bobcats added a ninth district championship to their colossal post-season winning streak spanning the majority of the last decade.
However, this year’s title win was far from a sure thing, despite some excellent performances from Paxton’s pitching staff and defense on the night of Thursday, April 23. The visiting Central Jaguars made sure their drive of nearly two hours wasn’t in vain, holding Paxton to one run for most of the contest, and almost tying it 2-all in the bottom of the sixth. Nevertheless, a tremendous 3-2 squeeze play stopped Central from evening up the score, and Paxton ace Grant Stewart retired the side in order in the top of the seventh inning to give the ‘Cats the 2-1 win.
“Of all the districts championships that I’ve been a part of, this one was the hardest,” said Paxton head coach Chris Davenport. “Central is such a good team. We knew it would be a fight, them coming over here. They’d beaten Grant once, so I was worried about them having a little confidence against him, but he rose to the occasion and the rest of the team did too.”
In addition to the “heady play” to stave off the tying run, there were several standout performances on defense, with just two Central batters reaching on hits. Stewart walked two others, but he struck out 12 batters to record the win after a complete game. Furthermore, all four of Paxton’s hits on the night came in the bottom of the batting order. Austin Franklin (who struck out 16 batters in Paxton’s five-inning, 10-0, no-hitter shutout over Bethlehem in the district semi), Keyeen Edge, Garrett Bodie and Jeremiah Watkins all went 1-for-3 at the plate against the Jags.
Paxton got ahead early into its first at-bat, as Stewart was walked, then scored on a sacrifice out from Emory Anderson. Franklin singled but was picked off for the third out, and that was kind of the routine of the game: Paxton would put a man on and Central’s fielders stranded him to keep the Bobcats from running up the score. Central’s pitcher, senior Justin Abel, had just one strikeout on the night – a testament to the superlative backup afforded by his team mates on defense.
The score stayed deadlocked until the tail end of the fourth inning. Paxton didn’t get a hit, but it didn’t matter as Central committed three truly egregious errors in the infield to load the bases and enable Watkins to sneak home for the 2-0 lead. The pitchers controlled the next at-bats, and nobody got close to scoring, but all that changed in the top of six, when it was Paxton’s turn to blow some easy outs. Central’s Randell Ruiz singled and scored shortly thereafter, with errors at second and first bringing him home to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
Clutch doesn’t begin to describe what happened next. Central’s Dakota Cassady was poised to tie the score, rounding third on a headlong course for home plate when Paxton first baseman Watkins and Caleb Newborn, the catcher, put through a textbook squeeze play to save the day. Watkins let a throw-out at the bag get past him, but he ran to the fence, scooped up the ball and fired it home into the waiting mitt of Newborn, who got the tag to keep the ‘Cats in the lead.
Central’s outfielders made two highlight-reel diving catches to keep Zach Varnum and Bodie from reaching on hits to center field, and those saves were all that kept Watkins from scoring a third run for the Bobcats too. Nevertheless, Paxton was still ahead, and Stewart summarily shot down any hopes of a comeback from the Jaguars with three straight strikeouts to give the ‘Cats the district championship.
Davenport said the feeling of winning a district championship never gets old. It’s practically become expected to win, but that doesn’t mean keeping the trophy in Paxton was always a given, he said.
“This is the ninth-straight time we’ve done it, and we take a lot of pride in that,” he said. “There have been several times during those nine years when, on paper, we didn’t have the best team, but we did what we had to do and came out on top. We can enjoy this win over the weekend, but Monday, we’ve got come to practice ready to prepare for Blountstown, and they are as good if not better than last year.”
The Bobcats felled Blountstown last year to make it to the school’s first-ever appearance at the Final Four, and they’ll face the Tigers again in the regional semifinal on the night of Tuesday, May 5. Still, Davenport said he and his coaching staff and team are ready to face that challenge. They’re hungrier than ever to return to the big stage at the Final Four.
“After getting a taste of state last year, this year we want to win the whole thing,” Davenport said. “This doesn’t end here. We’ve got a lot of work left to do if we want to get there.”
