Moments after hitting the game-winning single Friday afternoon in extra innings, Patrick Green is fully embraced by several of his teammates on Rebel Field. the senior’s hit eliminated Grace Christian in the Sub-State series and clinched the Rebels a spot in the Division II-A Baseball State Tournament this week in Murfreesboro. Rebel Noah Roland started the Game 3 limiting the Lions for multiple scoreless innings. The night before Zach Seward was the pitching star throwing a six-inning no-hitter.
By Thomas Sellers Jr.
No luck is needed when you have Patrick Green on your roster.
But the Tipton-Rosemark Academy Rebel senior being around for the final moments of the Game 3 Sub-State Division II-A Series against the visiting Grace Christian Academy Lions was in jeopardy Friday afternoon.
After fouling a ball off his face, Green started to bleed from his nose. With his team trailing 2-0 to the Lions in the first inning, the senior first baseman/pitcher wasn’t going to miss a chance to help his team clinch a spot at the Division II-A State Baseball Tournament in Murfreesboro.
Sweating through eight competitive innings, Green was back at the plate with the game tied at 5-5 with runners on first and third and two outs.
“Coming into the bottom of that inning Coach Cole said get us to the top of the order,” Green recalled. “Give us a chance. The bottom half of the lineup did their jobs. They got us to the top. Once I got up there, just trusted in myself and got the hit.”
Green’s single down the right field line drove home the winning run and sent the Lions packing and the Rebels to State winners 6-5.
“I told the kids before we went to hit that inning, ‘If we get it to Pat, we’ll win it,’” TRA Head Coach Jacob Cole said. “That’s how much confidence I got in the kid. The kid takes a foul ball off his face during his first at bat today. Comes back in, he’s our spark plug he makes us go. It was no doubt he was going to do it.”
TRA needed a spark in Game 3 falling behind 2-0. The Rebels forced the decisive game winning 5-0 in Game 2 the previous night.
The Lions won Game 1 in a come-from-behind effort 8-7.
The table was set for Game 3 and TRA rallied back to take the lead 3-2 in the second inning with a pair of pass ball RBIs and a double by Noah Roland bringing home the first Rebel of the game.
Ahead 3-2, Roland kept the Lions scoreless for 5 innings. Meanwhile TRA grew its lead to 5-2 with two more runs in the fifth inning.
Eli Ramsey singled to score Green making the deficit 4-2 in favor of TRA. Moments later Zach Seward came up clutch with a base hit scoring Ramsey.
Two outs away from State, TRA watched its three-run advantage evaporate under the Rosemark sun. A pair of Lion base hits and a sacrifice bunt tied the game at 5-5 in the seventh inning and forced extra innings.
The Lions loaded the bases in the eighth inning but Rebel Eli West forced a ground ball to keep Grace Christian scoreless.
It was TRA’s turn in the eighth inning and with one out West reached on an error. His courtesy runner was Kade Allen.
After a sacrifice bunt by Aidan Sprenkle moved Allen into scoring position, Jordan Massey drew a walk giving Green a pair of base runners.
Green delivered with a single down the line and Allen crossed home plate giving TRA a trip back to State and Coach Cole his first birth at the final TSSAA baseball tournament of the year as the skipper in charge.
“I knew we were going to be good and I knew we were going to be good on the mound with the three guys that I’ve got,” Cole noted. “The way these guys fight. The whole game I kept telling them ‘Trust the guy behind you. Just trust the guy behind you. Find a way on and trust he’ll get you over.’ And we just did it.”
Cole played for TRA and he has surrounded himself with coaches who know the Rebel Way like William Dean, Connor McLemore, Nick James and Trysten Barlow. The staff learned under former TRA head coach Brad Smith going on multiple trips to Murfreesboro since 2009.
“I understand what it is to be coached hard,” Cole recalled. “I played under Coach Smith. I understand what it takes to do things. I was fortunate to do it as a player and then I got to sit there and watch him on how he did it. I feel I am approachable and my guys can come to me and talk about anything. I’m just so proud.”
Cole fought back tears moments after watching his guys dog pile on Rebel Field. From his three aces of Green, Seward and Roland, to the leadership of Tucker James behind the plate, Cole said it was a team effort that guided the Rebels back to Murfreesboro.
Green said his second trip to State is memorable because they had to mature under new leadership.
“We started off about .500 and we just kept trusting in ourselves game after game these past couple of games,” he recalled. “And we came out on top.
“I definitely knew we had the arms to do what we’re doing right now,” Green added. “But hittingwise, it was about medium. But we’ve turned it on at the end and that’s helped us out a lot. The arms are getting us these wins.”
Green said TRA Baseball is a brotherhood and a true program having a rich history. He said the next goal is to get that elusive golden plaque to add validation to the program.
“I’m a role model for these kids out here,” he acknowledged. “Everybody is looking up to the seniors. We’ve been working so hard in the fall in the weight room and going into the season. The throwing programs we’ve been going through, they just look up to us.
“Coach asked us going into the Regional Tournament,” Green added, “‘Do you want the underclassmen in the dugout with us?’ We said, ‘Absolutely, they need the experience.’ I’m so glad they’re here to experience this with us.”
Now the Rebels will experience State again. Cole has the experience as a player, assistant coach and now head coach. His main objective is to have Rosemark, Tenn., enjoy a baseball State championship for the first time.
“Just trusting the guy behind you to get the job done,” he concluded. “And work as a team. We can get the job done.”
