Jayson had the baseball highlight of his life tonight with a walk-off game winning hit in the city tournament championship game. Here's the pressure situation he found himself in:
Jayson's team, the Marlins, was playing their nemesis the Dodgers (both teams undefeated except against each other) for the championship of the Salem tournament. It was a close game with good pitching and defense, with the Marlins leading 2-1 going into the last inning. The Dodgers, the visiting team, scored one on an error in the top half of the inning to tie the game.
The Marlins were playing one player short and had to take an automatic out each time their 9th slot came up in the order. Jayson, batting in the 8th slot, came up with runners on second and third with two out.
Because of the automatic out, Jayson would be the last Marlins batter of the inning and so it was up to him to get the winning run in. If Jayson got out OR walked, the inning would be over because the spot after him was the automatic third out. (The other team could have intentionally walked him and ended the inning, but decided to be good sports and pitch to him straight up).
The count went to full, so the intensity level was high in the bleachers. Jayson's coach told him he COULD NOT walk, he had to hit the next pitch no matter how good or bad. Under this kind of pressure, Jayson got a difficult low outside pitch and smacked a sharp grounder that made it through between first and second, scoring the winning run.
Jayson got a big cheer from his teammates and everyone said "JAYSON" instead of "CHEESE" as they posed for the photo op with their medals. It was a pretty proud parent moment. We're saving the game ball.
1 comment:
Way to go JAYSON! I wish I had been there.
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