Deerfield-Windsor beats Pinewood Christian to advance to state championship series

ALBANY — Seconds after Deerfield-Windsor School catcher Steven Williams picked off the tying run at first base in the seventh inning of Game 3 Saturday against Pinewood Christian, relief pitcher Tanner Ford had a decision.

With two outs, two strikes on the batter and the Knights holding a one-run advantage, the reliever had a plan.

And it worked perfectly, better than a Hollywood movie producer could have scripted.

“With a 1-2 count, I was thinking that I didn’t want the batter to hit it, so I was hoping that I could throw something that would catch right on the outside corner,” Ford said. “So I threw my backdoor curve.”

The pitch bristled past the corner of the plate, the umpire pumped his fist to signal a called third strike and Deerfield-Windsor advanced to the Georgia Independent Schools Association Class AAA state championship series following Saturday’s 5-4 victory, taking the best-of-three series 2-1.

The Knights will play host to the Bethlehem Christian-Valwood series winner in the best-of-three state finals next weekend.

But for Deerfield-Windsor, that series will have to wait.

After a pair of sloppily-played games on Friday, Saturday’s winner-take-all Game 3 produced quality pitching, timely hitting and several clutch plays.

While Ford earned the save in relief of starter Landon Brettel, who worked five strong innings to earn the win, it was Williams who finally put away the Patriots for good.

After Pinewood’s Adam Coley led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third before scoring on an infield error, the Patriots had the tying runner on first with one out.

They attempted to bunt the runner into scoring position, but when their attempt failed, Williams alertedly fired to Brettel at first base to pick off the runner, sinking Pinewood’s suddenly-found momentum.

“We practice that a lot … when the batter swings through a bunt and a runner is on first, we throw down,” Williams said. “That was a big momentum killer.”

That left Ford with just one more strike to notch for the final out.

“He has that capability to pound the strike zone … that’s why he’s in that role,” Deerfield-Windsor coach Jonathan Davis said of Ford. “He’s pitched in a lot of games, but he came through when we needed him the most.”

After falling behind by a pair of runs in the first, DWS (22-2) rallied to tie in its half. Charles Crosby was hit by a pitch, then a batter later, John Samuel Shenker launched a two-run shot that cleared the fence in right field.

That was all the run support Brettel needed to put himself back into the game. He set down five straight before allowing a single with two outs in the third. However, he promptly got out of the inning when Williams picked off the first of two runners at first base.

Meanwhile, the Knights’ offense used a hit batter and three straight walks to open the third, then Howell Logan’s single plated two runs to make 5-2.

Pinewood scored one more in the fourth.

Brettel and Ford combined to allow just eight hits but also benefited from some decent defense, including a 6-4-3 double play from Corey Toole and Chandler Matthews to escape a first-inning jam that could have been costly.

DWS had just five hits but made the most of them. Logan led the offense going 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs.

After a one-year absence, the Knights return to the state championship series and will be seeking their first baseball championship since 2003.

“I’m happy we’re finally in it,” Williams said. “We’ve worked hard for it since January, and we’re happy to be in this situation.”