By T. Scott Boatright
FLORIEN — Simsboro used some late magic to pull off a 9-7 win over the Black Cats of Florien High School Saturday afternoon to advance to the second round of the Division V Baseball playoffs.
It was Simsboro’s first playoff win since defeating Forest 8-3 in the opening round of the 2015 postseason.
The 17th-seeded Tigers struck first in the back-and-forth showdown, plating a run in the top of the first inning before 16th-seeded Florien countered with three runs in the bottom half of the stanza to build a two-run advantage.
Simsboro added a run in the top of the third inning to make it a one-run contest, but the Black Cats moved back on top by two in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-2.
But the Tigers roared back in the top of the fifth inning to tie things up at 4-4 and set up a wild finish.
“We did a lot of things that we’re supposed to do, but I’m not sure if we could have played much worse for the first three or four innings,” Hiers said. “I guess it was just nerves, but we were able to hold ourselves together enough to give ourselves a chance to eventually get into a groove.”
That wild finish began with a three-run double hit by Chris Harrell sparked a five-run surge in the top of the sixth inning to put the Tigers on top 9-4.
Hayden Rabo went the distance on the mound for Simsboro to earn the win, spreading out seven hits with four earned runs while walking five and striking out five Black Cats to complement a strong offensive performance in which he went 3-of-4 at the plate with two runs batted in.
He also made the defensive play of the game as he sprinted toward third to make a backhand grab before twisting and firing the ball across his body to first base for the final out of the contest.
“He was uncharacteristically wild during the first part of the game,” Hiers said of Rabo’s performance. “I guess that just had to be nerves. But he made one heckuva play to end the game.
“Hayden was definitely the player of the game today. He had a big double to start the game for us and then hit the ball well through all seven innings.”
Simsboro’s Chris Harrell batted 3-of-4 with four RBIs to lead the Tigers at the plate.
“Chris had a three-run double in our big inning that became really big because it turned out that we needed those extra runs,” Hiers said. “He got a 3-2 breaking ball with the bases loaded, which you usually don’t see and smoked it into the right centerfield gap.
“I’m just extremely proud of all the kids. I’m just happy that for once one of these kinds of games fell on our side instead of the other side for a change.”
Next up for the Tigers will be a game at top-seeded Pitkin next week.
“I told the kids they should feel no pressure because nobody is going to expect them to win,” Hiers said. “All they have to do is go down there and play and see what happens. If we get beat 10-0 or 1-0, either way no one expects us to win so we;ll be playing with house money.
“We’re just going to go down, have fun and see what happens.”
