Piedmont baseball: 'We just couldn't quite get over the hump'

May 17—JACKSONVILLE — Austin Estes could matter-of-factly talk about happenings in Tuesday's final two games of the best-of-3 Class 3A state title series.

The senior shortstop/pitcher and one of Piedmont's most decorated athletes could talk matter-of-factly about losing to Trinity Presbyterian 6-5 and 3-1 after winning 4-2 on Monday.

Perhaps he dealt with those emotions before appearing in the postgame news conference.

The thing that tested his control was talking about his fellow seniors, the teammates coming up behind him.

"There's nothing I would change about this season and playing with them guys for my high school career," he said, his voice starting to break. "I'm proud of the way we played this week."

Four times Piedmont baseball has reached the final series. Add 2022 to 2012, 2017 and 2019 as runner-up finishes.

The Bulldogs lost to Trinity for the second time in the finals, the other coming in 2012, when first-year Trinity head coach Jarrod Cook and Piedmont's Matt Deerman were assistants.

Estes and his fellow seniors experienced two of those runner-up finishes to go with the program's first two Calhoun County titles, in 2019 and 2020.

Who knows what the 2020 team would've done? The Bulldogs were 15-0 and, like much of this season, ranked No. 1 in 3A when the COVID-19 shutdown canceled the rest of the season.

Each time Piedmont got to the final, the Bulldogs got a little closer to winning it. Trinity outscored Piedmont 11-10 over three games on Jacksonville State University's Rudy Abbott Field this time.

Piedmont finished 36-7.

"We tied the school record for wins," Deerman said. "They won 27 straight games, and we played a tough schedule.

"We do that to try to get to this point. We just couldn't quite get over the hump."

Most valuable player Coleman Stanley's complete-game three-hitter in Game 3 stood in the way.

Piedmont's comeback in Game 2, featuring a run in the fourth inning and three in the fifth, fell one run short despite Piedmont outhitting Trinity 11-8.

Estes, the Game 3 starter on the mound, allowed just four hits with seven strikeouts over five innings. He struck out three in the first inning, but that same 30-pitch inning saw Trinity score a run without a hit. Two walks and an error on back-to-back-to-back batters became the little thing here.

The little thing there was the bang-bang play that allowed Trinity to score an insurance run in the sixth. Second baseman McClane Mohon made a diving stop on Mac McClinton's two-out grounder up the middle then lunged for the force play at second base.

Mohon tagged the bag. Webber McClinton was ruled safe in a close play that allowed Jordan Jenkins to score from third base.

Mohon was livid after the play.

"I heard him call 'ball,' so I kind of let the ball pass and veered off," said Estes, who had moved back to shortstop when Cassius Fairs relieved him to start the sixth inning. "He grabbed it, and he tagged second base, and the umpire is sitting there asking if he's got the ball in his hand.

"He's got it, and he calls him safe."

Down 3-1, Piedmont had two at bats to make up the ground. The Bulldogs went down in order in the bottom of the sixth and got one base runner in the seventh, when Sloan Smith reached on a one-out error.

"There were just a couple of times when we didn't make a play when we had to have it and get a hit when we had to have it," Deerman said. "Their guy was really good on the mound. You've got to give him a lot of credit. He kept us off balance."

Tuesday's games marked the last for Estes, who starred in football and baseball at Piedmont, helping the Bulldogs win two state titles in three years in football. He'll play both sports at Delta State.

Omarion Foster, who'll play football for Delta State, got it done in football, basketball and baseball. Like Estes, he was a key figure in Piedmont's record-setting comeback against Montgomery Academy to win the 3A football final.

Senior first baseman Noah Reedy also starred in football, making key sacks to stop Montgomery Academy's last-gasp drive.

Also graduating are Fairs, an outfielder/pitcher who also played basketball, third baseman Ridge Fagan and backup first baseman Jack Tolbert. All were multisport athletes.

"These four years have been great," Fairs said.

Deerman expects more of the same to come.

"It's been an amazing run, and it's not over," he said. "Piedmont baseball, that's the thing about us. Football, baseball or basketball, it doesn't matter. People are always going to say, 'Oh, this is going to be Piedmont's down year.'

"I hope people keep thinking that, because we have guys like this (Estes and Fairs) right here who think, 'Hey, it's my turn.'"

Sports Writer Joe Medley: 256-235-3576. On Twitter: @jmedley_star.