It’s the stuff dreams are made of.
With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Newberry’s Brody Joyner, a transfer from Santa Fe (Alachua), came to the plate with one out and the winning run just 90 feet away.
The senior delivered with a single to center field to drive in senior Trey Priester for a 5-4 home win against his former school.
“I dream about this stuff, man,” Joyner said. “It feels like one of those things with game seven of the World Series on the line, and you get a clutch hit, especially being doubted over there (at Santa Fe) and coming over here and getting the job done. It means a lot.”
Santa Fe relief pitcher Dylan Doria fell behind in the count 3-1 and challenged Joyner with a fastball.
Joyner (2-for-4), who transferred to Newberry his sophomore season, also scored a pair of runs as Newberry (8-4) won in extra innings for the second time this season.
“I feel like I did pretty good,” he said. “I’ve been struggling recently, so it was a good game to come bounce back. But my boy over there, Cohen (Bennett), was throwing good all night. It was tough, but I got the job done.”
Bennett threw seven innings and allowed three runs on just three hits for the Raiders (4-9).
One of those hits was a bomb to left field by University of Florida commit Tavis Honeycutt, his seventh home run of the season, for a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
The junior also made a leaping catch at shortstop to save a run in the top of the 7th inning after Santa Fe had taken a 4-3 lead on an RBI ground out by senior Brody Rou.
“He’s a special kid,” said Newberry coach Mike Spina. “I mean, everybody in this area knows he’s a special kid. He’s a humble kid. He just plays the game. It seems like he’s always in the right spot at the right time, and I’m just glad he’s on my team and not another team.”
Santa Fe answered Honeycutt’s blast in the top of the second inning.
Newberry senior Desmond Taylor walked three straight batters after Rou had singled and then allowed a pair of runs on a double by freshman Cole Crevasse.
Taylor struck out four and allowed just three hits in four plus innings of work.
“He’s one of our top two pitchers,” Spina said. “Tonight was his first start back from an injury earlier in the year. He didn’t have his great stuff early, still trying to figure some things out, but tonight was a little test, and we’ll get him back out there next week and during spring break again, to a team down south, and see how he competes.”
The Panthers reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the third inning.
Joyner led off with a walk and scored on a ground out to shortstop by junior catcher Aiden Michaux for a 3-2 lead.
Newberry sophomore pitcher Memphis Hoffman came in relief in the top of the fifth inning and worked out of a jam, but he was also aided by a big interference call.
With the bases loaded, Santa Fe sophomore Trent Keel grounded to short stop, scoring Doria, and an errant throw to first appeared to score two runs on the play.
However, junior Ryan Jablonski was called for interference sliding into second and the go-ahead run was taken off the board.
“Tough play,” said Santa Fe coach Kyle Brooks. “My guy’s playing hard. He’s competing his butt off. It’s a learning experience. I’ve got a pretty young team, and our goal is we learn from that experience, and it doesn’t happen again. I’d rather have it right now in the 12th game of the year than have it happen in the 26th, 27th, 28th game of the year when we’re trying to keep playing to survive in the playoffs.”
Hoffman ended up retiring seven in a row after the interference play.
“Kid can compete,” Spina said. “He’s been our guy out of the bullpen and really stepped into that role this year because we were looking for a couple more arms, and he’s actually a position player. He can swing a little bit too, but he’s done well for us on the mound. He’s really come in and controlled the game. He’s got a really good breaking ball, and he throws a lot of strikes, so he’s had a lot of success there.”
In the decisive inning, No. 6 hitter Koleby Benson led off with a double and the junior scored on a single by Priester, the No. 7 hitter, to tie the game at 4-4, which set up the dramatics for the top of the order.
“I’ve been telling these guys for the last couple of games that we’ve got to stop relying on the top half, that top four or five guys, that our bottom is going to have to start coming through and they came through tonight, so I’m proud of the guys.”
Santa Fe will host Saint Francis Catholic Academy at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, while Newberry will host Suwannee (Live Oak) at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
“It was a great baseball game,” Brooks said. “Guys playing well on both sides, competing, I mean that’s how baseball is supposed to look. They got the best of us tonight, but we will see them again after spring break (March 26), and we’ll hope to get them back at our place.”
