Princeton – Brody Combs pushed the issue on the base paths twice and hit the jackpot each time.
Combs’ steal of third base and subsequent steal of home on a throwing error in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted Princeton to a 4-3 walk-off victory over Greenbrier East Monday in Princeton.
The winning run was the perfect capper for Combs who allowed just one hit and one run (unearned), striking out 11 in five innings of work on the bump. At the plate he finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs, one a go-ahead run in the third inning and the walk-off winner.
Combs set up the winning play with a two-out double, sliding into third on a pitch low and away and waltzing home when the throw down to third went wide left.
“I was just waiting for my right opportunity and finally saw that I could get a jump on it,” Combs said. “I went, got there so it was a pretty good delay. After I looked down and saw the ball go past his glove, I thought ‘Might as well just win it. Be a hero.'”
For Combs it was a slump-busting performance. He came into the night batting .143 (1-for-7) in the Tigers’ first four games of season but delivered in every way possible.
“Offense has been struggling a little bit and in recent performances I haven’t really done much,” Combs said. “I had one hit coming in, which is a little out of the ordinary for me. But I settled in, found my confidence, tried to drive something to either right or left field – anywhere I could get it and make something happen from there.”
Combs’ lone blemish on the night came in the third inning, leading to the Spartans’ first run. A throwing error by Combs on a bunt sailed down the right field line, allowing Clay Patton, who reached on an error to begin with, to score from first, putting Bo Bundy on third with no outs.
Combs locked in from, striking out three consecutive batters to stand the runner on third.
The Tigers responded in the bottom of the frame when Kaden Davis reached on a throwing error from shortstop to first scoring Riggs (courtesy running for catcher Landon Crane) and allowing Combs to sneak his way home behind him for a 2-1 lead.
“For a big guy he has a lot of confidence in his speed,” Princeton head coach Josh Wilburn smiled. “We had the opportunity all night to courtesy for him but every time I looked over, he’s like, ‘No, I want to run.’ And for a big guy he runs well. A smart base runner is sometimes better than a fast one.”
Aside from the pair of errors that led to their first run, the Spartans struggled against Combs.
“He’s a good pitcher, absolutely,” East head coach Corey Mann said. “We watched too many first-pitch fastballs and fastballs in general. You’ve got to swing the bat to get hits and we constantly let ourself get behind in the count and he did a good job of executing and when he gets ahead in the count he’s hard to hit.”
The Tigers tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth on a Combs RBI single but a Spencer RBI single and a double steal of second and home tied the game at 3-3 after six innings.
East put the go-ahead run on base in the top of the seventh, stealing third and seemingly having a clear path h0me when the throw down flew over the third baseman’s mitt but Princeton left fielder Cole Dennison preserved the tie with a throw home that arrived before the runner did.
“It’s one of those things we work on that,” Wilburn said. “Cole’s got a great arm. He pitches a little bit for us. It’s a situation where we’re working with our catcher, trying to get our frontside down to make good throws and unfortunately – Corey’s doing a great job putting pressure on us, trying to play a little small ball, making us throw it and trying to create something. He did a great job at that but luckily Cole did a great job backing that up and he has a great arm and made a great throw.”
Crane later picked off the a runner attempting to steal second, ending the inning and setting up Combs’ final run.
“That’s all Brody right there,” Wilburn said. “That wasn’t a designed steal. Brody must’ve saw something – the ball coming in low, however the catcher reacted – he’s really good at getting a good read and taking off.”
Landon Crane had Princeton’s only two other hits to complement Combs.
Patton finished with two hits in the loss.
About the Author
