It truly took a team effort to put Lakeland Christian on the verge of winning the best-of-3 series against Orlando First Academy on Saturday, but it took Parker Kant and Maclain Irby to put the Vikings over the top.
Kant, who had been just 1 for 9 to that point in the three games, ripped a two-out two-run double that sent LCS past First Academy, 7-5, on Saturday afternoon in the clinching game of the Class 2A, Region 2 finals.
Irby, who pitched in relief in all three games, allowed a two-out double but retired the final batter on a routine fly ball to left and picked up the win in nearly four innings of relief.
Lakeland Christian advanced to play in the Class 2A state semifinal on May 18 in Fort Myers.
“It feels unbelievable,” Kant said. “I’m like at a loss for words right now because last year, we got taken out by TFA in the same exact spot. Just to be able to come back at our place this year and just be able to do it to them at our place, it’s just an unreal feeling.”
It had been a miserable series at the plate for Kant, the Vikings’ second-leading hitter behind Gavin Byrd, up to that point as he saw his average drop under .400 to .391 after going 2 of 10 in the series. He did walk twice and had a sacrifice fly in the middle game of the series.
However, Kant came through in the clutch in the bottom of the sixth, driving a 3-2 pitch off the wall in center to drive in two runs.
“That whole game was just absolutely insane,” Kant said. “We were going back and forth, and I was struggling this whole game. And then, you know, I had to come through for the team. I was just waiting for that one pitch and I got it.”
Initially, Kant was concerned that the center fielder would make another great catch like he did on Friday night, but the ball sailed out of reach.
“When I saw that he hit right off the fence, I just like erupted,” he said. “It was surreal.”
Irby had to hold the Royals one more inning to seal the victory. He pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief, coming into the game with one out in the top of the fourth with LCS trailing, 4-1, and just put his stamp on the game. He allowed four hits and seven walks but kept coming through in the clutch. In the fifth inning, the Royals loaded the bases with one out but catcher Bryndon Bartow picked off a runner at second base then Irby struck out the batter to end the inning.
In the sixth inning, Johnny Parkinson hit a leadoff home run off Irby, then the Royals again loaded the bases. This time, LCS recorded a 3-2-3 double play then Irby got the final batter to pop out to Kant at first base.
Kant had already pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief in the first two games.
“I was ready, for, anything,” Irby said. “Coach told me I was up, so he said right after Nate, I’m in there, and I was ready to give it all. I was not ready to, give up this season.”
While Kant and Irby were the final two heroes for Lakeland Christian, the Vikings needed many players to come though after Friday’s night debacle that saw their 6-5 lead going into the final inning dissolve into a 11-6 loss.
Fin Donay had a miserable start in the first game Saturday, allowing a leadoff walk, then a two out double and single to fall behind 3-1. An LCS error then made it 4-1.
Donay, however, locked in and pitched four scoreless innings that allowed LCS to come back. By the time he allowed a run in the sixth, LCS was leading 9-4 and went on to win 13-7
Barton’s solo home run in the second began the comeback. Then the Vikings used small ball, bunting — often becoming infield singles — and sacrificing. Twice they scored a runner from third on a bunt.
The top four batters had just three hits but walked six times. Irby, the No. 5 hitter was 2 for 4 with an RBI then the bottom four hitters had five hits and five RBIs.
The Vikings went back to the long ball with home runs from Byrd and Irby to put the game out of reach. Byrd homered twice in the series, giving him six for the season and 17 for his career to break Brody Donay’s mark of 22 set in 2022.
“I can’t go through the amount of team things that happened all day. Today, we got our bunt down. We played our baseball. We made good plays on defense.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland Christian rallies twice in wild day of baseball to advance to Final 4
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
