ACE gets another dramatic walk-off, defeats Bleckley County 5-4

The linescore for ACE Charter was odd, compared to Bleckley County, in two of the three categories — depending on who you asked.

The Gryphons had a rough day on defense, but Sebastian Falduti erased the cringe-worthy part of the night — which will no doubt be addressed at some point — when he smacked a 3-2 pitch to deep right field for a walk-off single with two outs and the bases loaded to give ACE a 5-4, nine-inning win over visiting Bleckley County in a GHSA Region 2-A Division I showdown.

In front of large crowd on both sides that grew louder and friskier as the temperatures dropped — that friskiness shined through as players’ body language got more animated and a Bleckley County assistant apparently got tossed after the handshake line — ACE took over sole possession of first place in the region, improving to 18-5 and 14-1, while Bleckley County dropped a notch in the standings and to 20-4 and 13-2.

“Yeah, it was ugly,” said ACE head coach Bubba Pool, in his first year with the Gryphons after a stellar run of more than a decade at Mount de Sales. “It was ugly early, playing some guys out of position due to some injuries, and we made a few mistakes early.

“But I’m going to tell you, (there’s) something about this team.”

ACE had three errors according to the Gryphons’ scoring, while the Royals and a trio in the press box had the hosts with six errors. Falduti was able to soften the pain of the defensive issues with his clutch hit.

“We play sound defense typically,” Falduti said. “Today was just a little slip-up, but I trust everyone. I knew we were going to come through and figure it out.”

The two play again Thursday in Cochran, and potential attendees are advised to arrive early and bring a lawn chair to beat the crowd at what should be an intense showdown that’ll either give ACE the region title or put the two back into a tie.

Tuesday’s game got off to a good start for Bleckley County, which soon enough was matched by ACE before the teams muddled through blown opportunities until Falduti’s heroics.

“We missed a few signs that I felt like we’re going to (get) some opportunities to score some runs,” said Bleckley County head coach Brad Davis, who spent a portion of the night advising and consulting with the umpires on strikes and other calls. “We had some big-time situations, runners in scoring position with less than two outs, leaving the bat on our shoulders, striking out too many times.”

Both coaches are hoping for much sharper play in the rematch.

Bleckley County didn’t get a hit until the fourth inning, having taken a 3-0 lead through two and a half innings on three walks, three errors and a hit batter.

“I really don’t know if the moment got too big for us or if we just kind of froze up, I’m not real sure,” said Davis, who passed the 300-win mark — all those wins came with Bleckley County — late last month. “but we’ll get back to work.”

The hosts settled down, as Pool expected.

“I told everybody, ‘Just relax, it’s a long ballgame, we got a lot of time left, a lot of at-bats left, let’s just score one right here,’” Pool said of his attempts to chill things out. “ ‘Let’s score one.’ They said, ‘Coach, we’re going to score two.’ And they scored three.”

The Gryphons got rolling in the third, tying it at 3-3 on five hits, a sacrifice and hit batter.

Starting pitcher William Makowski drove in two runs with a first-pitch single just past third baseman Noah Woodard, bringing in Chase Sasser and Camden Bailey.

Naturally, the Gryphons left the bases loaded.

The Royals responded with their first hit, a run-scoring single by Brody Fleming, a quarterback in the fall.

Makowski’s pitching day was done three batters into the fifth, down a run despite 100 pitches and six walks against eight strikeouts.

On came Slade Hodge from third base to get a called third strike and pop-up to end the threat.

Bleckley County left two runners on in that fifth en route to 14 LOBs.

“It’s really disappointing for us,” Davis said. “That’s kind of the way our offense works. We pride ourselves in getting situations down, and we got guys in scoring position and we just weren’t able to do that tonight.”

Neither offense could do anything with some rousing defensive plays.

The Royals had two on with one out in the sixth when Gavin Cole lofted one to left-center. Center fielder Falduti made the catch, and landed on his backside after perhaps making contact with left fielder Josiah Harris.

Falduti then threw to shortstop Bailey, and his high-arcing throw beat Walker Boatwright to the plate, as catcher Aiden Sanderson made the tag for an 8-6-2 double play.

The Gryphons wasted potential momentum with a 1-2-3 inning that ended with a nice diving catch by Bleckley County right fielder Jay Johnson.

The visitors later came up with a prettier inning-ending double play in the bottom of the seventh, when right fielder Lane Sapp caught Falduti’s fly and gunned down Bailey at the plate for a 9-2 inning-ending double play.

Soon came a 19-minute, 29-pitch top of the ninth that the Royals won’t soon forget.

Cole reached for ACE second on an infield throwing error to lead off, and was sacrificed to third. He never left until the end of the inning, Bleckley County wasting two errors and a walk to come up empty.

The hosts came close to matching it.

ACE gambled and lost when Pool sent Brady Balkcom — who walked, advanced on Bailey’s single and stole third — from third on a one-hopper back to pitcher Johnson, who easily got the second out at the plate.

“I knew we had another guy that was going to be in scoring position,” Pool explained. “(Balkcom) can fly, and (I) decided to put a little pressure on (the pitcher) right there and see what happens.”

Drake Davidson walked to load the bases with two outs. Falduti’s second game-winning hit in less than two weeks — he did the same in a 9-8 win over Dublin on March 26 — followed six pitches later.

“I was almost around first base, and when it dropped in, my whole heart like stopped,” Falduti said. “It was probably one of the coolest things ever. It was amazing.”

Hodge got the win in five innings of relief, while Johnson got the loss. Boatright fanned seven with a walk and eight hits in 6.1 innings.

Neither Makowski nor Boatright (95 pitches) will be available Thursday, an indication that the rematch may be just as grinding as Tuesday’s game but with more runs.

Until then, though, ACE can enjoy being in first place when it hosts non-region foe Crawford County on Wednesday before the rematch.

“I’ll be honest,” Pool said. “I just take it one game at a time and I just want to win every ballgame.”