There were no Hollywood-style sparks shooting off the scoreboard at Spruce City Stadium when Adam Donnelly batted a ball into it to end Thursday's game with a walk-off home run in the eighth inning.
But there was certainly a star's welcome waiting for Donnelly as his Custom Edge Sports teammates poured out of the dugout to greet him at home plate after his two-run shot gave them a 7-5 win over the Superior Fencing Reds.
It tied the best-of-three Spruce City Major Men's Fastball Association championship series at a game apiece.
Donnelly started the game pitching for Custom Edge and got into trouble right away. They trailed 4-1 in the third inning when Keith Henry entered the game to relieve Donnelly, after arriving late from his out-of-town job. Henry was undefeated at 5-0 in the regular season, accounting for half of his team's wins to lock up the regular season championship, one win ahead of Custom Edge. Henry proceeded to strike out the side in the third inning, on his way to fanning 11 Reds batters in the game.
"We got a boost when Keith showed up," said Donnelly. "We missed him for the first game and we just kind of chipped away at that lead."
Custom Edge took a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning when Reds starter Kyle Garnot tied the game with one swing of the bat, making Henry pay for one of his few mistakes.
In the bottom of the eighth, with a Custom Edge baserunner already on second, as per international tiebreaking rules, Donnelly came to the plate just wanting to make contact with a pitch from Garnot.
"When we went to extras I thought to myself, 'If I could end it by putting one into the gap somewhere, I'll do it,' and I got a pitch I could handle and had a good result," said Donnelly. "I think the wind knocked it down a bit and it went off the scoreboard."
The playoff championship is now down to a winner-take-all game Monday at 7 p.m. at Spruce City Stadium.
Henry, for Custom Edge, and Norm Linton for the Reds are expected to get the starts Monday.
