Down a run and to your final out, who better to get an opportunity to be a hero than the guy batting .577? Statistics aside, Hattiesburg’s Cam Lott proved Tuesday night he was made for those moments. With the Tigers down 5-4 to Picayune in the bottom of the seventh and the game-tying run at second base, Lott stepped into the batter’s box with little margin for error.
“I was nervous, but I knew I had to try and do something to help the team out,” he said.
Lott did just that by tying the game and sending it into extra innings with an RBI single. In the eighth, it was Jamal Donaldson’s turn to wear the cape. With two out and the game-winning run at third base, Donaldson sent the Tigers to a 6-5, walk-off win over the Maroon Tide with an RBI single of his own.
“Our guys played hard the entire time,” Hattiesburg coach Joe Hartfield said. “I was extremely worried, I can tell you that, because their pitcher [Luke Smith] was doing such a good job of throwing the ball enough off the plate so we’d chase it.”
The Tigers did experience some early success against Smith by answering Picayune’s one-run top of the first with a four spot in their half of the inning. Adrian Felts and Keylan McKeller collected RBIs, while Jairus McFarland and Jermel Ford scored on wild pitches. After one complete, the Tigers were up 4-1 and off to a solid start, but they would eventually be held scoreless by Smith for five straight innings.
Picayune took advantage and chipped away at the lead before jumping ahead in the fifth, 5-4, off a two-run single from Jakail Myers.
Between the fifth and sixth inning, Smith struck out four straight Tiger batters to keep Picayune ahead going into the seventh.
“He had our guys figured out for a long, long time tonight,” Hartfield said.
But with the game hanging in the balance, Hartfield’s team rose to the occasion. With two out in the bottom of the seventh, McFarland gave the Tigers life with a base hit. Moments later, Lott continued his impressive season at the plate by knocking in McFarland.
“Man, that was important job there because it was two outs,” Hartfield said. “We were going to the house had he [Lott] not got on.”
Instead, the Tigers kept playing.
After Hattiesburg reliever Caleb Tart worked a quick top of the eighth, Josh Jones led off the bottom of the inning with a double for Hattiesburg. After Ford bunted him over and Jeremiah Nunez struck out, it was up to Donaldson. Despite some of his struggles at the plate this year, Donaldson says he felt like he was “supposed to be there”. He shot one straight up the middle to score Ford and propel the Tigers to the win.
“I haven’t been having the season I wanted to have, but I feel like this is the turnaround for me,” Donaldson said.
Hattiesburg improved to 7-5 and 1-1 in Region 7-5A with the victory. After starting the season 4-5, the Tigers have now won three in a row.
“I told everybody early in the year I felt like this would happen,” Hartfield said. “We would start out slow and get better as the year goes on. I’m hoping that continues to be the trend because I think we can be a really good team. We could be a much better team than what we are right now.”
