Little League baseball: Great Scott!

Jul. 26—CENTERVILLE — With a win in the 11-year-old Iowa State Little League Tournament hanging in the balance, Appanoose County made a strategic move.

Leading 5-4 in the final inning of regulation and both the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Grant Husted was given first base on an intentional walk to load the bases setting up a potential force at home trying to hold to the last bit of what had been a five-run lead. Drake Scott, who had struck out and grounded out in two previous at-bats, stepped up to the plate for Davis County with the game hanging in the balance.

"I was pretty nervous when I went up there knowing they had just walked Grant in front of me," Scott said. "I was worried I wouldn't hit the ball."

It didn't take long for Scott to set that worry aside. The first pitch thrown by Blaine Ewing was lined back into left field by the Davis County infielder, bringing home Myles Rodgers and Corbin Grim with the final two runs needed to complete an epic comeback in the final inning as Davis County rallied from a 5-1 deficit, winning 6-5 on the walk-off two-run single by Scott in the bottom of the sixth.

"Maybe I was a little mad they walked Grant to get to me," Scott said. "Maybe that's why I hit it so hard."

The state tournament battle of District 7 rivals was the closest game yet in the third and decisive contest of this postseason between the southeast Iowa programs. Appanoose County (2-6) won 7-2 on July 5 behind a 10-strikeout performance by Ewing before Davis County rebounded to earn an 11-1 win on the way to claiming the District 7 tournament title.

During those games, however, both teams became quite familiar with each other. As a result, Scott expected a somewhat different result when he stepped to the plate against Ewing for the fifth time this month.

"I was expecting (Ewing) to hit me. The last time we played them, he hit me twice," Scott said. "That first pitch was a little inside, so I just stepped backwards and took a swing."

Scott knew he had tied the game with his single to left, easily bringing home Rodgers from third. What Scott didn't expect, however, was for Grim to make a dash for the plate from second base just getting in across the plate before the throw could reach Appanoose County catcher Boaz Harryman.

"I saw their center fielder pick up the ball and start throwing it," Scott said. "I wasn't sure why he was throwing it. That's when I looked over and saw Corbin going home.

"I was like 'Uh-oh!'"

Grim, however, got the signal to head home as he rounded third base.

"I heard our coaches say go, so I just ran as hard as I could," Grim said. "I had no clue where the ball was. I just started running."

Grim's run ended an exciting final inning between the teams as Davis County (8-4) was able to keep Appanoose County from extending a 5-1 lead in the top of the sixth. Coming in to pitch in relief, Levi Hulbert walked the first two batters before giving up an infield hit to Harryman, loading the bases with no outs.

Hulbert was able to get what Appanoose County was looking for in the bottom of the sixth, forcing Damon Leffler to hit a ground ball to Rodgers at short leading to a force out at home. Braxtyn Ryan kept the ball off the ground with a line drive that was snared by Hulbert, who then threw to first catching Leffler off the base for the third and final out of the inning.

"He hit it and I heard the contact of the bat," Hulbert said. "I thought they were going to score, but it was hit right to me. I caught it and turned the double play."

Carter Shively and Connor Garland got the Davis County rally started in the sixth by drawing back-to-back walks off Cole Shilling, bringing Ewing into the game. Hulbert, however, was hit by the fifth pitch of the at-bat with Ewing, loading the bases for Rodgers who also drew a walk cutting Appanoose County's lead to 5-2.

Next up came Grim, who already had two hits including an RBI single in the fourth. Grim lifted a fly ball to deep right field that was dropped allowing Hulbert and Rodgers to score cutting Appanoose County's lead to one while putting the tying and winning runs on base.

"We've come back in three or four games this summer," Scott said. "We might not have won all of them, but we've always played well at the end.

"Our coaches believed in us," Hulbert added. "When we saw how much they believed in us, we tried our best and we won."

Despite the end of the game, Appanoose County played one of their best games in the state tournament jumping out to a five-run lead over the first three innings. Ewing singled in Cain Housh in the first inning, giving Appanoose County an early 1-0 lead, before Ryan beat out a wild pitch on a potential third strike allowing Harryman to score before extending the second inning for Johnny Joiner, who drove in Ryan and Leffler with a clutch two-out, two-run single to center.

"I knew it was going to be tight right until the end," Appanoose County manager Caleb Housh said. "Our boys finally just played to their potential. What you like about these kids is they're always fighting. They're really good at heads-up baseball plays. I couldn't be more proud of these kids. They've got a lot of great passion and they love the game of baseball.

"Nuke LaLoosh said it best. You win some and you lose some."

Both Davis County and Appanoose County will close out the state tournament on Wednesday. Davis County faces championship game-bound Davenport Southeast while Appanoose County finishes up the season against Grandview.

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.