By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Savannah had watched a 3-0 lead disappear and were put down 1-2-3 in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Things weren't looking much better in the seventh with two outs and nobody on.
A walk, a double and an intentional walk, however, loaded the bases for junior Ashton Kincaid, who laced a two-run RBI single to left field which would lift Savannah to a 5-3 win over Bishop LeBlond at Phil Welch Stadium on a cool and cloudy Thursday.
"Only thing that was going through my mind was to put the ball in play and score all of my runners," Kincaid said. "I wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't have anyone on. So, that's a big shoutout to my teammates."
Savannah (23-5) scored the game's first run in the top of the third and tacked on two more in the fourth off of RBI singles from Aiden Leonard and Truman Bodenhausen.
LeBlond (7-11) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by freshman Jackson CDeBaca and then a two-run RBI double to right in the fifth by junior Jake Korell.
The Eagles, who had won four of their last five games coming in, seemed to be in good position to take their first lead in the bottom of the sixth. Bradeyn Dawson reached on a leadoff walk, and stole second.
Freshman Christian Anderson came through with a two-out single to shallow left, but Dawson was thrown out in throw down between second and third to keep the tie intact.
After a scoreless sixth inning by both teams, Savannah came through in the top half of the final inning.
"That's what you look forward to," Savannah coach Erich Bodenhausen said of the final inning. "Bases loaded, got a chance to win the game. We got a really good hitter up to the plate, and (Ashton) came through."
Parker Brayley sealed off the win with a 1-2-3 seventh inning against LeBlond, including a strikeout.
Savannah has now claimed eight wins this year decided by two or less runs.
"I feel like we know how to win," Bodenhausen continued. "We know what we need to do to win. Sometimes, we make it close than I'd like, but I think playing close games is only going to help you in the end."
Savannah is home to Chillicothe Monday. LeBlond is home to Albany on the same day.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.