BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN – For much of the season, the Auburn High School baseball team seemed to live life on the edge. A late-season surge allowed them to slip into second place in 7A Area 4 play. An offensive explosion in the final two games against Bryant High School allowed them to advance to the quarterfinals.
And in the end, they flew too close to the sun as Enterprise High School defeated the Tigers twice – one a blowout, the other bitterly contested until the end – at Cimo Field on May 2.
With those results, the Tigers finish their season at 21-18, while the Wildcats proceed to the Alabama High School Athletic Association 7A semifinals with a 32-1 record.
GAME ONE: EHS 14, AHS 2
Despite ending with 16 combined runs, the first game started slowly with neither team recording a run. Then, EHS’ bats came alive, and the Wildcats recorded two runs in the top of the second inning.
As the third inning began, it appeared the Tigers’ fortunes would shift for the better after Ryan Farr’s line-drive single straight to EHS shortstop and a fielder’s error at first base brought Britt Farr home from second base.
Following that run, AHS then seemed poised to add to its tally with the bases loaded. However, several savvy plays from the Wildcats’ infield managed to halt the Tigers’ growing momentum.
That two-run deficit ultimately proved to be the high-water mark for AHS in the first game as EHS quickly went on an offensive onslaught from there.
The Tigers dug themselves into a hole in the top of the fourth inning as the Wildcats loaded the bases and ultimately added another run.
For a brief moment, it appeared AHS could eat into EHS’s lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after Antwane Daniels raced home from third base. That run was made possible after Ryan Farr’s hit deep into center field was successfully fielded.
That hope began to fade in the fifth inning after the Wildcats brought two runners home with a double deep into center field and a wild pitch brought in another runner.
EHS then built an insurmountable lead in the sixth inning after two singles, a triple and a home run brought seven total runs in.
GAME TWO: EHS 2, AHS 1
With the first match of the doubleheader over, both teams prepared for a nightcap that would decide if the Wildcats would advance or if the Tigers would earn the right to host a third game the next day.
In comparison, it would take much less time for the offensive fireworks to get going, even if there were fewer of them.
Following a fruitless first at-bat for AHS, EHS quickly kicked things off with a solo home run in the first inning to take control early.
As the game wore on from there, both teams found it difficult to get a foothold on base as groundouts, flyballs and strikeouts led to a much faster pace of play compared to the first game.
While the deadlock lasted for four more innings, the Wildcats would not be denied. During the bottom of the sixth inning, EHS scored its second run after a high and wide pitch allowed a baserunner to advance from second to third base, and then a high throw to tag him out at third base allowed him to advance home.
That run set the stage for what proved to be a pivotal, nearly miraculous and heartbreaking seventh inning for the Tigers. With two outs and runners on first and second base, JB Upton smacked a double deep into left center field that brought Lawson Hare home from second base.
However, Knox Chambliss was ultimately thrown out during a brave attempt to take third base, and the game ended with EHS outlasting AHS in a defensive slugfest.
