Red Devils Split With Marist to Force Game 3

The Red Devils went on the road for the first time in this playoff run and traveled to Atlanta to take on defending state AAAA champions  Marist War Eagles. The Red Devils rolled into Jerry Queen Field hoping to take care of business and gain the right to play for the championship this weekend. The Loganville fans turned out in a huge way to cheer on the local team in a hostile environment.

Game one started out well for the Devils when the second batter of the game, second baseman Cody McCance stepped to the plate and hit a solo shot to give Loganville an early 1-0 lead. Two batters later third baseman Clint Frazier came up with two outs and hit a drive out of the park and after a half inning Loganville was up 2-0.

Senior Kenny Anderson took the mound for the Red Devils and got three quick outs and Loganville led 2-0 after one. Marist cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second with a solo homer making the score 2-1 after two complete innings.

The score remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth when the Loganville offense came to life. After a single by Cody McCance and a double off the bat of first baseman Chance Bridges, Loganville had runners on second and third with two outs when Clint Frazier came to the plate and hit his second home run of the game with two outs. Frazier's homer gave the Devils a 5-1 lead. The War Eagles picked up a run the the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 5-2.

Loganville got some insurance in the top of the seventh when starting pitcher Kenny Anderson led off with a double and first basemen Chance Bridges drove him in with a double to give the Devils a 6-2 lead. Center fielder Heath Holder capped off the scoring with a two out two run homer to increase the lead to 8-2. Anderson shut down the War Eagles in the bottom of the inning to preserve the 8-2 win, sending the Red Devils into the night cap looking to sweep the War Eagles.

Coach Jeff Segars sent Christian Miller to the hill in game two. The Red Devils starter found trouble early and the War Eagles scored two runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. The War Eagles sent Brandon Leibrandt to the mound in game two hoping to gain the split in the double header and force a game three. Leibrandt shut down the Red Devils in the first and after one complete, Loganville trailed 2-0.

The top of the second brought trouble for Loganville as Marist got runners on first and second with only one out. Not wanting the game to slip away, c0ach Segars brought in senior Spencer Thomas to pitch. Thomas wiggled out of the jam and going into the bottom of the second Loganville trailed 2-0.

Both pitchers settled in and the score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth when the Red Devil offense came off the deck. Loganville loaded the bases with only one out and it looked as though the Devils might score. Liebrandt worked his way out of trouble and the War Eagles remained on top 2-0.

Loganville again got things going in the bottom half of the fifth with a lead off double off the bat of catcher Brian Jacobs. Two batters later Tyler Gray hit a double driving in pinch runner Kaleb Smith to cut the lead in half. The Red Devils could do no more damage and after five complete Loganville trailed 2-1.

In the top of the sixth Marist got runners on second and third with two outs. Thomas worked his magic to get the third out and going into the bottom of the sixth Loganvilled trailed 2-1. Second baseman Cody McCance beat out a bunt to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Senior Chance Bridges stepped to the plate and as if it was written in a script, Bridges sent a shot over the right center field wall and gave the Red Devils their first lead of the game 3-2. Loganville was unable to do anymore damage and going into the seventh the Red Devils held a slim 3-2 lead and was only three outs away from a chance to play for the title.

The lead off hitter for Marist drew a walk to start the seventh and later advanced to second base. A sacrifice sent the runner to third and the War Eagles had a runner on third with only one out. Coach Segars decided to make a pitching change and brought in sophomore Clint Frazier to try and nail down the victory. The next Marist batter sent a fly ball to deep center and Heath Holder made the catch and threw a perfect strike to home plate but the Marist runner just got in under the tag and the game was tied 3-3. Loganville got out of the inning and went to the bottom of the seventh hoping to score and win the series. Liebrandt continued to pitch well and struck out the side, sending the game into extra innings tied 3-3.

Marist came to bat in the top of the eighth and went to work. The War Eagles loaded the bases and with only one out Frazier lost the next hitter and walked in what would later prove to be the winning run. The young pitcher settled down after the walk and recorded the last two outs. Loganville came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth trailing 4-3. The Red Devils lead off hitter sent one to center that was hauled in for the first out of the inning. Cody McCance drew a walk to put a runner on first with one out and Chance Bridges came to the plate. Bridges hit a hard shot to the shortstop who made the play and the game ended on a double play.

Loganville had several opportunities in the game but the offense just could not get on track. The game 2 loss set up the final game of the series on Tuesday evening to decide if Marist would advance and defend the title, or Loganville would get to go back home and play for a championship on the home turf.