Malakoff stuns CC London in final inning to capture Class 3A baseball state title
Malakoff scored four times in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally back and beat Corpus Christi London, 8-7, in the UIL Class 3A state baseball championship game Saturday at Dell Diamond.
Malakoff (37-7) wins its first state title in program history. Both teams made the trip to state for the first time. London ends the season 33-6-1.
The Tigers scored four times on just one hit in the final frame, but benefited from two London errors. After picking up the first out on the lead off batter, Malakoff loaded the bases with an error, hit by pitch and another London error.
The second out was recorded before Malakoff even scored one run. Bryson Adair hit a single to the right side that brought the score to 7-5. The next batter Cole Gaddis was walked which drove in another run and made it a one-score game.
London switched pitchers for the second time in the inning, but that didn’t work as Brandon Nations was hit by a pitch to tie the game, driving in Wes Hustead. A third pitching change from London followed, but Malakoff picked up the walk-off victory when Jack Davis was also hit by a pitch driving home Adair for the game-winning run.
The Pirates scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Tigers answered to take the lead, 2-1, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. Malakoff scored two more in the bottom of the fourth to grab a 4-2 lead before London erupted for four runs in the top of the fifth.
Mason Jacob recorded a one-out two-run double to left center. After a walk to John Martinez, Landon Salinas singled in Jacob to give London a 5-4 lead. Jacob Martinez reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in a sixth run for the Pirates, who also scored one in the top of the sixth.
