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Friday, May 25Spring Fling Baseball: Gant leads USJ back to title gameSMYRNA - With his University School of Jackson baseball team facing elimination, Clayton Gant was sure not to disappoint. The junior picked up a pair of victories Thursday over Knoxville Gibbs at Smyrna High School to lead USJ into today's Class AA state tournament final. After pitching three innings in a 15-0 semifinal win Thursday afternoon, Gant turned around that night to strike out 12 and earn the victory in a 9-3 win to eliminate Gibbs. USJ lost to Gibbs, 9-4, on Wednesday in the second round. "It's unreal what he did," USJ senior Josh Liles said of Gant, now 13-1 this season. "He showed unreal heart coming out and wanting the ball like he did." USJ (41-6) plays Goodpasture (37-5) at 1 p.m. today in the Class AA final at Middle Tennessee State's Reese Smith Field. Covington beat USJ, 9-1, last year for the Class AA state title. Gibbs (34-11) saw its first state tournament appearance since 2003 come to an end after committing nine errors in the second game. All of USJ's nine runs in the game were unearned. "It started out ugly (today)," Gibbs coach Geff Davis said. "We came out and got a lead, but it's tough to compete with a private school like that when they're throwing like they did." Gibbs only made one early in the first game Thursday, but USJ still took control. The Bruins blitzed five Gibbs pitchers for 15 runs on 13 hits. Chris Armstrong took the loss after giving up five runs on five hits in one inning. Gant allowed only two hits in three innings for USJ, which is at state for the seventh straight year. Liles - a Tennessee signee - was huge at the plate, going 3-for-4 with six RBIs. Freshman Preston Overbey added three RBIs, and Danny Grimm and Dusty Bright both chipped in two RBIs in the win. In the nightcap, Gant limited Gibbs to three runs in seven innings. "When I came out for the second game my arm was hanging," Gant said. "I just got after it." Liles had three hits, while Bright and Jon Willis had two RBIs apiece in the win for USJ. Drew Housewright took the loss after giving up four unearned runs on three hits in 3.1 innings. Nothing hurt more for Gibbs than its nine errors. "You can't make errors like that against a team like that," Davis said. Now USJ is looking for its first state title since 2002, when the Bruins beat Columbia Academy, 13-7, in the Class A final. USJ won the 2005 Class A title. To win another state title, USJ will have to beat Goodpasture, which downed the Bruins, 9-8, earlier this season in the Warrior Classic at Murfreesboro Riverdale. "We have to play with the same intensity we did today," Gant said. "We stayed in the game because of our intensity. Everybody was in the game and contributed." - Joshua Parrott, 425-9634 € |
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