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Aggies advance to 4A finals!
Jamie Eckstein (1-0) earned the win as he pitched all seven innings, allowing five hits and no earned runs in his first complete outing since the third round of last year's playoffs. "It was classic Jamie Eckstein pitching," Coach Jason Jones said. "He keeps the ball down and makes the batter take a bad swing. He forces a lot of ground balls and pop ups. "He really came through for us," Jones added. "We were hoping to get maybe two or three innings out of Jamie. Instead it was a seveninning jewel." Eckstein was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Josh Kimbell added a pair of hits with three RBI. Sam Harbuck had a hit and an RBI. Jeremy Reeves added an infield bunt single. The Aggies were able to take advantage of passed balls and wild pitches to score three additional runs as well.
Now the Aggies (32-6) will travel to Montgomery again only this time the big blue trophy is at stake and the opponent will be Haleyville (22- 14). The Lions beat East Limestone 4-2 on Saturday, after splitting on Friday 1-3 and 16-2, to advance to the 4A title game at Patterson Field. Game one was Wednesday at 1 p.m. Game two is scheduled for Thursday (today) at 4 p.m. The third game, if necessary, will be at 7 p.m. It will be the second time in school history that Jackson will get the chance to play for a state title. The first came in 1958. When it looked like the Aggies' playoff ship was dead in the water in game two, an unlikely spark propelled Jackson to victory. Down 8-2 in the sixth inning, the Jackson players were met by Jones as they came off the field. "No one can hit a 6-run homer," he told the players. "I wanted them to chip away and get the lead to a more manageable number."
ACA plated two runs in the seventh to tie the game at 10-10, but in the bottom half of the inning Windham Jackson singled with the bases loaded for the game-winning RBI. Mitchell went 3-for-4 to pace Jackson at the plate. Eckstein was 2-for-4. Taylor and Allen each went 2-for-3 with a walk. Kimbell went 2-for-2. Myer was 2-for-4. Jackson had one hit, but it drove in the decisive run.
Myer started the game on the mound and came out after three innings. Jeremy Armstead followed and threw two innings. William Taylor pitched one to set up Jeremy Reeves, who got the win. He gave up one run, walked one, allowed one hit and struck out two. In the series opener the Aggies had sure victory snatched from them as the Eagles' Zach Dean hit a 2-run walk-off homer, giving ACA a 6-5 win.
"It took us a while to get over that," Jones said. "That is a tough way to lose a game, but the guys kept fighting." Allen led the charge at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Myer had a 2-run homer. Jackson, Armstead and Taylor each added a hit and RBI. Mitchell and Harbuck both had a hit. Cody Bayles was the hard-luck loser. He pitched all seven innings, struck out six and scattered seven hits. The Aggies played the series in front of what was almost homefield advantage because of the number of fans who made the trip to the Capital City. On Friday over 400 Jackson faithful saw the two teams split. "We had a really great crowd," Jones said. "It was almost like playing a home game. These players see that.
"You really can't say enough about the fans and the city of Jackson with what they have done for this team. Their support is tremendous."
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