AISA BASEBALL: Knights sweep Clarke Prep to advance in AAA playoffs

Clarke Prep catcher Jesse Marshall tags out Macon East’s Barrett Spaeth in the Knights’ win on Wednesday. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

CECIL -- The most dominant pitcher in Class AA last year had to work a little harder in the first round of the AISA Class AAA state playoffs on Wednesday.

In the end, it took Matthew Kitchens’ bat to bail out his pitching in Macon East Academy’s 8-4 win over Clarke Prep.

The Knights (30-9) went on to beat the Gators 12-1 in the second game of the best-of-three series, winning for the 23rd time in the last 26 games and advancing to the semifinals of the AAA playoffs next week at Bessemer Academy.

To get there, Macon East relied on a formula that has worked well over the past two seasons, bringing the Knights a state championship in 2022: send Kitchens out for the first game of a best-of-three series and watch him shut down the opposing team.

But as Clarke Prep drew within 5-4 in the fifth inning with four unanswered runs, it became apparent that the Knights may need more than Kitchens’ arm to secure the victory.

“They really competed at the plate and put a lot of balls in play,” Macon East coach Will Graham said. “That’s kind of what we preach to our guys on the mound. We want you to pound the zone and we’re going to play defense behind you. Then, one inning, we made four errors. They put the ball in play and really challenged him and we kicked it around a little bit.”

The normally unflappable Kitchens even contributed a little to the self-destructive efforts, walking Connor Bumpers and hitting Ashton Williams to push courtesy runner Marc Keahey to third base with two outs in the fifth inning. Trace Phillips followed with a single to left to score the Gators’ first earned run of the game, making it 5-4, but left fielder Deonte Powell threw out Bumpers at the plate to keep the Knights in front.

“I was struggling, keeping it in the zone,” Kitchens said. “And whenever I did get it in the zone, it was a little too far over the plate so they would hit it pretty well.”

The Macon East bats, silent for three innings, suddenly came to life as Powell hit a two-out double and Gunner Justice drew a walk, setting the stage for Kitchens. The senior belted a double down the left field line to drive in Powell and Justice and Jabe Boroff followed with an RBI double for an 8-4 lead.

“We’ve got a lot of guys on this team that swing the bat well and (Kitchens) is one of the guys that you want in the box when you’ve got guys on base in a tight game,” Graham said. “He just competes at the plate, similar to what he does at the mound. He puts the ball in play and makes something happen.”

Kitchens and Boroff did the most damage in Wednesday’s doubleheader, with Kitchens going 4 for 5 with three RBIs and Boroff going 3 for 6 with four RBIs, but none was bigger than Kitchens’ sixth-inning double that finally silenced the Gators.

 “I was trying not to hit anything too hard because normally, if I do, it doesn’t end very well,” Kitchens said. “So I tried to stay within what I can do and see the ball out of his hand well. It turned out pretty well.”

The Knights rode the momentum of the first game to a five-inning rout in the second game. After scoring five runs in the first two innings of the first game, Macon East scored six runs in the second inning of the second game to jump out to a 7-1 lead.

“It’s huge,” Graham said. “When you give the guy that’s going out there to toe the mound a four or five-run lead, it gives them all the confidence in the world. It’s one of our goals to score first in every game, whether it’s one run or five runs. Score first and make them have to play from behind.”

The Knights used nine walks from Clarke Prep pitchers to take control of the game and Powell did the rest, holding the Gators to three hits and a run in four innings before Jason Tatum pitched a scoreless fifth, striking out all four batters he faced.

“Deonte did a great job in the second game of mixing his fastball locations and throwing the breaking ball enough for a strike,” Graham said. “They hit the fastball extremely well and we knew that going in.”

And a team that played .500 ball over the first couple of weeks of the season is a series away from returning to Paterson Field for the finals despite moving up from AA to AAA.

“It’s a lot of the same people, but it’s a lot different than what you would think,” Kitchens said. “Those three people (that graduated) were starters last year so it’s a little different in the field and in the dugout because they were pretty good leaders. A couple of us had to step up and take over that role. At the beginning of the year, we had to figure that out but now it’s rolling pretty good.

“The teams are definitely better (in AAA). This year, it’s going to be tougher, but I still think we can win.”

AISA BASEBALL Playoffs (second round)

Class A

Coosa Valley 5-17, Snook Academy 0-4

North River at Lowndes Academy (Thursday/Friday)

Cornerstone at Wilcox Academy (Wednesday/Thursday)

Crenshaw Christian at Heritage (Thursday/Friday)

Class AA

Jackson Academy at Abbeville Christian (Thursday/Friday)

Edgewood 3-11, Pickens Academy 0-12

Chambers Academy at Patrician (Wednesday/Thursday)

Southern Academy at Autauga Academy (Wednesday/Thursday)

Class AAA

Monroe Academy at Glenwood (Thursday/Friday)

Lee-Scott 12-6 Ft. Dale Academy 1-3

Springwood at Bessemer Academy (Wednesday/Thursday)

Macon East 8-12, Clarke Prep 4-1