By T. Scott Boatright
National Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra may have said it best — “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
But Cedar Creek sophomore third baseman Cason Floyd probably said it louder in the final inning Thursday night as he raced to snag a pop fly foul ball in front of the Riverside dugout to give the Cougars a 4-3 win over the Rebels in quarterfinals action of the Division IV Select School playoffs at Cougar Field.
It capped off a wild showdown that saw the third-seeded Cougars build a 4-0 advantage before sixth-seed Riverside rallied with a three-run sixth-inning to keep the game’s final outcome in doubt before Floyd found a foul ball hit sky high and watched as it fell into his glove.
The win advanced the Cougars to the state championship tournament in Sulphur for the first time since 2014, when Cedar Creek captured the Class 1A state title.
“There’s no greater feeling than just getting to see guys achieve what they’ve been trying to achieve with smiles on their faces,” said Cedar Creek coach Chad Yates. “These guys have been working their rear ends off. This school, and all of the people we have behind us — there is no better feeling. I’m going to be on this high for a little bit.
“But everything goes to the team. They play the game between the white lines.”
Cedar Creek starting pitcher Kade Luker had already recorded nine strikeouts (he finished with 12) before he the Cougars’ offense ignited in the bottom of the fourth inning. Luker launched a three-run homer after designated hitter Drew Wade led things off with a walk before leftfielder Eli Slocum was hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on base.
“The count was 2-0 and I was looking for the fastball,” Luker said of his home run. “I was just sitting back waiting on it. I knew right away it was leaving the park.”
Shortstop Conner Yates then walked and advanced to second base on a grounder before Conner Nichols provided what would be the game-winning RBI with a double.
Luker only faced three batters in the top of the fifth, adding another strikeout, before the Riverside bats finally heated up.
“Riverside was doing a good job of laying off some tough pitches,” Coach Yates said. “They laid off some pitches he usually gets swings on and that’s indicative of a team that deserves to be here. They made it to the quarterfinals last year and are a very good team.
“They executed the small ball, which is huge at this level, or any level for that matter. Then Kade got into a jam and Connor was able to come in and hold it down and finish it up. Next man up.”
That small ball play came in the form of a bloop bunt along the third base line after that Rebels had already scored a pair of runs.
Luker fielded the bunt and threw to catcher Brett Bell at home plate, but the Riverside baserunner who had been on third beat the throw to the plate, cutting the Cougars’ lead to one run.
“That’s their M.O. — what they train for, that they can get down and do,” Coach Yates said of Riverside’s third run. “It’s effective baseball. They executed it perfectly.”
Coach Yates admitted that the enormity of the game might have come into play.
“It was a playoff atmosphere,” Coach Yates said. “I wish I could say we played in this kind of atmosphere all season long so that we would have been immune to it. But this is the playoffs. The quarterfinals with a trip to Sulphur on the line. There’s no doubt the atmosphere — the tension — was getting there. But the team held in there. We’ve trained enough for those situations that they came through.”
Luker said it was all about staying positive at that point.
Riverside put a runner on base in the top off the seventh and final inning on a single, and by the time Cedar Creek got a second out that baserunner was standing on third and the atmosphere reached epic proportions.
But then came that final foul ball that set up Floyd’s spectacular catch to end the game.
“There was no bigger play — catch — than Floyd at third base,” Coach Yates said. “When you’re having to go in between what seemed like 30 guys around their dugout. There’s no bigger catch that he’s had in his career here.”
Luker led the Cougars at the plate, going two-for-three with three runs batted in.
