SEMO Pirates remain unbeaten in Senior Babe Ruth state tournament

~ The team rallied from a five-run deficit to reach the Senior Babe Ruth winner's bracket final

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The SEMO Pirates proved that it doesn't matter how terrible a team starts a game, it's the ending that really matters.

After falling behind by five runs following two error-filled innings against the Piedmont Riverdogs on Saturday in a winner's bracket semifinal of the Missouri Senior Babe Ruth state tournament the Pirates, a team based out of Leopold that features players from around the region, gradually chipped away, tied it up in the sixth and walked off with a 6-5 victory in the bottom of the seventh at Hillhouse Park.

Third baseman Landon Johnson, who is entering his senior year at Woodland, provided the game-winning hit up the middle to drive in catcher Logan Carter, who had reached after the ball skipped away from Piedmont's catcher on a third strike.

Winning pitcher and Kennett graduate Tyson Campbell was on second when Johnson came to the plate after reaching on an error and knew as soon as the ball hit Johnson's bat that they had completed the comeback.

"He hit the ball and I just took off running to the dugout," Campbell said with a laugh. "I wasn't even going to third. I was like, 'Game over. Let's go home. Get out of here and get back to God's country."

Johnson, who already had two hits and had driven in a run in the fourth, was exactly the player that Pirates coach Jeremy McCain wanted in the situation, the player he considers "the best hitter on our team" currently.

"In my head I was thinking about God," Johnson said. "And I told myself when I went in there, I'm like, 'He's with me. I'm just going to go in there and hit the ball, and I'm going to put it in play and Lord-willing he's going to do it for me.' He came through for me, and I praise Him for that."

Johnson's walk-off hit capped a crazy comeback for the Pirates, who found themselves in a 4-0 hole after the first inning.

Riverdogs' leadoff batter Tyler Griffin reached when shortstop Kyle Moore airmailed a ball over Campbell, who was playing first base at the time.

A triple, double and a fielding error at short made it 3-0 and then starting pitcher Dustin Houart was called for a balk that allowed a run to score.

"They were just hitting first-pitch fastball, and that's my fault for calling that," Carter said. "But they're just a good hitting team. They put it where we weren't. They were catching all the breaks at the beginning of the game and we weren't. That's just baseball."

The second inning started the same as the first, with Griffin reaching on a bad throw to first. A walk and double gave the Riverdogs a five-run lead and Houart was relieved by Blake White with runners on second and third. The Pirates were able to turn a 6-2-3 double play that got a runner out coming home.

"We just couldn't field it," McCain said. "We couldn't field it at all. That's been our Achilles [heel] here lately, just one error here or one error there, but three or four together right there'll kill you. Houart threw strikes. ... I hated that for him taking him out. Comes out of the game and we're losing three or four to nothing, and he's only given up a few hits. We were playing such bad defense there."

The Pirates scored once in the third. An RBI triple by Carter in the fourth made it 5-2 before Johnson's first hit of the game pulled the Pirates within two.

Johnson singled to start the sixth with the Pirates still trailing 5-3.

Then it was Piedmont's turn for an error-filled inning.

Johnson reached second on a failed pick-off attempt that sent the ball into foul territory. Jacob Trammel singled to shallow right before Houart drew a walk to load the bases.

Center fielder Audie Hay reached on a fielding error by the first baseman to score a run and an Austin Bucher sac fly tied it.

"Wow. I mean, that's a crazy, crazy, crazy game right there," McCain said. "We played so bad early, and they're a really good team. They do nothing spectacular, but they do everything well, every player. They played a great game."

White pitched two innings and did not allow a run on two hits. He walked two and struck out three before Campbell relieved him with one out in the fourth and runners on first and second.

"I come in with a chip on my shoulder," Campbell said of his mentality coming into pitch with a deficit. "You know, I just try to come in and shut things down. That's just what I try to do. Go out there and stop the bleeding and give my team a chance to win."

Campbell continued to shut down the Riverdogs, allowing just two hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked one and had four strikeouts.

"Everything was," Carter said about what pitches worked for Campbell. "The slider was working, making them chase it, and his fastball -- they were just late on that."

The Pirates advanced to face the defending champion Charleston Fighting Squirrels in the winner's bracket final at 3 p.m. today at Hillhouse Park.

Piedmont 410 000 0 -- 5 8 3

Leopold 001 202 1 -- 6 8 3

WP -- Tyson Campbell. LP -- Stephpen Carter. 3B -- Logan Carter (L), Austin Chilton (P). 2B -- Stephen Carter (P). Multiple hits -- Leopold: Landon Johnson 3-4. Piedmont: Stephen Carter 2-4, Wyatt Kirkman 2-4.