Redner walks off in extras as Crest claims district crown
Strawberry Crest junior Zach Redner lined an RBI single into left to walk-off the Chargers Class 6A-District 7 championship (813Preps file photo)
By Brandon Wright
Staff Writer
DOVER – With the game on the line and Alex Philpott at second, Strawberry Crest coach Eric Beattie was faced with a tough decision from the third base box. After already having the potential winning run gunned down at third in extra innings, Beattie now needed to make a call on Zach Redner’s sinking liner to left. Off the bat, it had all the makings of a bang-bang play at the plate.
Any chance you hold him at third coach?
“Zero,” Beattie said.
Redner’s two-out single scored Philpott as Strawberry Crest defeated Bloomingdale 3-2 in eight innings Thursday to capture its fourth consecutive district title.
“I had to get an aggressive (secondary lead),” Philpott said. “I knew coach Beattie was going to push it. We needed to end that game right there. And we did.”
Redner, who started on the mound for the Chargers, went with a fastball on the outer third and served it into left field for the game-winner. Once the throw home sailed high, Redner was mobbed by his teammates before receiving the team chain for a clutch play and a Gatorade shower.
“I had one other walkoff but this is probably the biggest one so far,” he said. “I was scared for the dogpile.”
Thursday’s win helped to erase the memory of a pair of defeats this year to Bloomingdale, the defending 6A state champs.
“Mentally we came into this game wanting it way more than (Bloomingdale) did,” Redner said. “We really had something to prove and we didn’t want to lose our streak of district championships.”
Redner scattered a pair of hits and a run before giving way to Philpott in the fourth. The lanky righty danced in and out of trouble all night but managed to strand nine runners in five innings of work while giving up just one run, thanks to some timely punchouts. Philpott fanned two apiece in three of the five frames he pitched, including striking out the side in the fourth.
“There were a few innings in a row where they had men on second, men on third with one out,” he said. “It came down to me having to make a pitch. I needed those strikeouts.”
Bloomingdale struck quick as Jack Owens’ RBI groundout scored Colby Shelton (2-for-3, double) in the top of the first. But Crest answered in the bottom half as Eli Vickers (2-for-2) drove home Jace Raburn and Arjun Nimmala to make it 2-1. Bloomingdale would eventually tie it in the fifth when Cooper Hinson scored on Alex Vazquez’s ground out.
Both teams had plenty of opportunities throughout the night. Bloomingdale left 15 men on base, while Crest stranded 10.
“You have to give credit to both team’s pitchers tonight with the amount of runners that were on base early in innings,” Beattie said. “A lot credit goes to their guys but holy cow, (Philpott) worked out of some pretty nasty situations.”
⚾⚾⚾⚾
Strawberr Crest 3
Bloomingdale 2 – eight innings
B 100|010|00 – |2|7|1
SC 200|000|01 – |3|6|03
W – Philpott (4-2); L – Chappell (0-4)
2B – Shelton, Hinson (B); Philpott, Pues (SC). Records – B (17-10); SC (18-8).
