West Limestone’s win against Westminster Christian Academy was classic baseball entertainment in the deciding Game 3 of Round 2 playoff series on Saturday by a score of 10-9.

After splitting the first two games of the series and a spot in the Elite 8 on the line, West Limestone won on Ian Burrough’s walk off single in the bottom of the 9th inning. The game set off fireworks from the first pitch to the last with 9 lead changes in the back and forth battle between these two 4A teams.

The game started with plenty of scoring in the first 3 innings with West Limestone leading 7-6 after the third. Westminster took a 8-7 lead in the top of the 4th but the Wildcats tied the game 8-8 in the bottom of the 5th. Colin Patterson had a big stolen base to get in scoring position followed by Cooper Phillips single to plate Patterson to tie the game.

The score remained 8-8 heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. After a leadoff double by Phillips, Westminster intentionally walked 2 hitters to load the bases and pulled off the 6-2-3 double play to take the game to extra innings.

The 8th inning started with a Westminster Home Run to take a 9-8 lead but the Wildcats never rattled. Landon Navas got the next 3 hitters out to head to the bottom of the 8th down 9-8. Keegan Laxson started the 8th with a single followed by an Owen Lauderdale double that plated Laxson in a bang bang play at the plate to tie the game 9-9. After failing to score again, the game headed to the 9th.

Westminster threatened in the top of the 9th with a leadoff single but Navas shut the door and took the tie game into the bottom of the 9th. A leadoff single by Phillips followed by a single from Braxton Griffin and Navas had the Wildcats load the bases with no outs. Senior Ian Burroughs walked it off on a single up the middle for the Wildcats to take the win 10-9.

“I’m just proud of how hard our guys fought in that last series. We have a big group of seniors that just want to keep playing and have done everything they could do to help the team win,” Coach Ryan Griffin said. “I’m really excited to be able to host Etowah here for this group of players and the community as a whole.”

Defensive plays were also a key to the game as well as timely hitting and a strong outing on the mound by Landon Navas. The senior entered the game in the 4th in relief and finished the game. After giving up 2 runs in the top of the 4th, he pitched 5 innings with only 1 run on the 8th inning home run. His final stat line in the win was 6 innings, scattered 6 hits with only 1 walk and 3 earned runs.

Offensively, the Wildcats had 16 hits in the 9 inning contest. Cooper Phillips was 4-5 with a double and 3 RBIs while Braxton Griffin was 4-4. Keegan Laxson, Landon Navas and Owen Lauderdale all had 2 hits each. No hit was bigger than Lauderdale’s game tying double in the 8th followed by Burroughs game winner in the bottom of the 9th.

With the win the West Limestone Wildcats improve to 25-11 on the season. They head to Round 3 to face the Etowah Blue Devils who have a record of 23-11. The matchup will be played at West Limestone High School with a spot in the Final 4 on the line. Games 1 & 2 will be Thursday 4:30/7:00 and game 3 if needed will be Friday 4:30pm