Allen Community College’s baseball team crammed a season’s worth of drama into its first, and only, homestand of the regular season.
For the second time in three days, the Red Devils ended the game in walk-off fashion, when Lucas McCain ripped an 0-2 slider back up the middle for a game-winning hit over Highland.
His single drove home Damon Burroughs for the 3-2 victory. That came after Allen’s Trey Jordan limited Highland to three hits in the opener, in a 6-1 victory.
The Red Devils are riding a five-game winning streak headed into the final weekend of the regular season. (Editor’s note: Results from Friday’s doubleheader at Highland were unavailable at press time).
“We’re starting to play well at the right time,” Allen head coach Clint Stoy said. “You just never know in this league in junior college baseball what you’re gonna get, day in and day out.
“We’ll take ’em where we can get ’em.”
Allen didn’t blink after Highland’s Victor Sanchez hit a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth to force extra innings.
“We’ve been that way the whole year,” Stoy said. “We never get too high or too low. It didn’t really take the life out of us because we were the home team. We knew we were still going to have a chance.”
A Highland fielding error got the Red Devils started on the right foot in the bottom of the 10th. Damon Burroughs then reached on a fielder’s choice, and advanced to second on a ground ball. He moved to third on a wild pitch before Khyle Radcliff drew a two-out walk.
That led to McCain’s game-winner.
“I think it was a slider,” McCain said. “They know I’d been struggling with the slider.”
The ending was similar to Colton Patterson’s walk-off single to defeat Labette, 2-1, two days earlier.
Thursday’s doubleheader marked games 5 and 6 on ACC’s new turf, which wasn’t ready for use until last weekend.
“We’re christening it with a little mojo,” Stoy said.
Patterson’s RBI single scored Josh Prinner in the bottom of the second, and Levi Bennett blasted a solo home run into the teeth of a brisk north wind to lead off the fifth, making it 2-0.
