LYNCHBURG, Va. – Game two of the Lynchburg Super Regional started out as a defensive juggernaut as Shenandoah nor Lynchburg could get their bats to produce runs. In fact, Shenandoah’s only run was scored on a wild pitch. Both starting pitchers had command on the mound-- Brandon Pond for Lynchburg and Jacob Bell for Shenandoah.
Pond pitched for six innings, allowing seven hits, one run but he had 4 strikeouts on the day. Bell pitched seven innings, allowed four hits and tallied five strikeouts.
But after Bell’s exit, Parker Farrington stepped to the mound for Shenandoah. It was a move that Lynchburg head coach Lucas Jones and the Hornets were waiting for.
“Jacob Bell for them was tremendous and we were just trying to get to the bullpen and just trying to work a pitch count towards the middle and back part of the game just to see if we could get him out of there,” Jones said. “Not that their bullpen is any less but just seeing a different arm would give us some juice and that’s what happened.”
What resulted in the bottom of the 8th was a base hit by Benton Jones followed by an Avery Neaves at-bat that made all the difference. Neaves fell behind in the pitch count but waited on the pitch he wanted before blasting it over the left field wall for the two-run go ahead home run.
Despite getting the tying run on first base, Jack Bachmore was able to record the final three outs for his 13th save of the season and a historic 3-1 win for Lynchburg.
The Hornets won the program’s first ever NCAA Division III Super Regional, punching a ticket to another program first--NCAA Division III baseball national championship.
“You have to persevere in times of adversity and just focusing on the next pitch is the biggest thing,” Pond said afterwards. “You know, they have a great lineup and you know they’re going to put balls in play and hit balls hard but just focusing on the next pitch and every pitch that you can execute.”
“This program has really come up from nothing the past few years,” said Neaves. “I’ve been grateful to join the guys on their journey and we’ve been on the edge the past 3 years and finally broke through. The job is not done yet, we have to take care of it in Iowa.”
Lynchburg is one of eight teams that will play in Cedar Rapids, Iowa beginning June 2.