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Road Warriors: Miller baseball beats O’Connell to advance to state final four

Scrimmage Play correspondent Delaney White contributed to this report.

 

The odds were stacked against Miller baseball. The Mavericks trailed by a run and they were down to their last at bats on the road Tuesday in the VISAA Division I state quarterfinals.

 

Junior Patrick Rakes rose to the occasion, tied the game to help send it to extra innings and then came up with another RBI single in the ninth to start a 3-run inning. That gave Miller a 6-3 lead that held up as the final when Noah Murray threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning, with a strikeout before forcing two ground outs.

 

“All year for us it has just been a grind, to go out there and everyone do their role and do their part to put together wins for us,” Murray said. “Everybody today put something out there and we could not have done this without all nine of our guys going out there and giving everything they have.”

 

Miller, the sixth-seed coming into the VISAA Division I tournament, has played an extremely challenging schedule this year that obviously prepared them for this moment. Jacob Exum and Murray combined for the win on the mound, with Exum striking out 10 in six innings. Murray was lights out in relief in the seventh, eighth and ninth, allowing no hits, no runs and no walks while striking out three. 

 

“What a team win,” Murray said. “When you go out there and put together such an amazing performance … we were able to come together and play as a team and get a huge win.”

 

Rakes started the ninth inning spurt with the RBI single that scored T.J. Brooks and then Murray connected for a double to left to bring home Caden Richter. Laken Tignor then grounded out to third but that brought Rakes home for an insurance run and the 6-3 lead that became the final score. 

 

After 13 pitches in the bottom of the ninth from Murray, the Mavericks had their road win and another berth in the VISAA Division I state final four. 

 

Rakes and Murray each finished 2-for-5 on the night at the plate. Murray, Tignor, Will Townsend and Ryan Jones each had a double. Murray, Tignor and Cooke added an RBI each. 

 

The win sets up a rematch with St. Christopher’s Friday night at 7 p.m. at Shepherd Stadium in Colonial Heights in the state semifinals. The Mavericks have lost 3-1 and 3-2 in their previous meetings with the Saints this season. 

 

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