It was everything one could want from a championship game.
The first- and second-ranked teams in the region, the two league champions and two heavyweight lineups going up against the two staff aces.
In the end it was senior catcher Beau Davis' walkoff two-out single that bounced off the left field fence to bring Danny King home and give the Douglas High baseball team a 4-3 victory over Reno in the Northern 4A Regional Championship game at Reno High Saturday afternoon.
"It's the best feeling in the world," Davis said. "It just happened like that."
With the score tied at three heading into the bottom of the seventh, senior Troy Torres led off with a double to right, which also bounced off the outfield fence. King came in to run for Torres and senior Jeff Crozier laid down a perfect bunt to move King to third.
Reno opted to intentionally walk leadoff hitter Tyler May with two outs, bringing Davis to the plate.
"They put me in that situation (with the intentional walk) and I overcame and did what I had to do," Davis said. "Any one of my teammates could have been in that situation and they would have come through, but it happened to me."
Davis swung at the first pitch he saw and the ball carried well toward the fence. Reno's left fielder appeared to have a good read on the ball but it carried just past his glove and off the fence, bringing King home. The rest of the Tiger team was there quickly to meet him in a mob.
"I couldn't tell by the sound if he'd gotten all of the ball," senior shortstop Tim Rudnick said. "I saw the guy backing up out there and I though he had it at first. Then I saw the ball fall on the ground and the whole dugout just kind of blew up. I've never had the feeling before. It was wonderful."
The game's final play overshadowed what was a stellar pitchers' duel throughout.
Douglas starter Tyler May picked up his 22nd career win, striking out 12 and walking just one while Reno's big righty Tom Jameson struck out eight, walked one and scattered seven hits.
"I was locating my pitches better than I have ever located," May said. "I was throwing my slider, I was throwing my curveball, I've never thrown my pitches that well. I figured it was the adrenaline, I didn't sleep at all last night. I'm going to sleep just fine tonight though."
The performance certainly left Douglas coach John Glover impressed.
"He was phenomenal today," Glover said. "He did a great job. He pitched his guts out, he really did.
"That's a great baseball team (Reno). This is the biggest win this program has had probably since 1989 ( The last time Douglas won a regional title).
Douglas did the bulk of its damage early on as Davis and Rudnick each had one-out singles in the bottom of the first. Senior right fielder Tyler Hoelzen then belted a double to the left center gap, bringing two runs across.
Sophomore Kameron Van Winkle later laid down a perfect down the third baseline with two outs. The errant throw from third forced Reno first baseman Pat Gallagher into the base path, where he and Van Winkle collided as the ball sailed past. Hoelzen came around to score on the play, giving Douglas the 3-0 lead.
From there Jameson held the Tigers to just two hits over the next five innings.
Reno, meanwhile, scratched a run across in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to tie the game up.
The Huskies' first run came in the top of the fourth on a Gallagher double down the third baseline which scored Jameson.
Griffin Kirsch hit a two-out chopping infield single in the top of the fifth and advanced to second on a passed ball to Jameson. Jameson later dropped a single in just in front of left field and just behind short to bring Kirsch in.
Reno moved the potential tying run to third in the top of the sixth with one out, but May recovered to strike out the next two batters to get out of the jam.
In the top of the seventh, Reno shortstop Austin Wood led off with a single to center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Nick Bietz. Kirsch flied out to center, leaving Douglas with just one out to win the game.
Jameson came up and belted a line drive up the middle, which Rudnick nearly made a spectacular diving play on, but the ball glanced off his glove and into shallow center, allowing Wood time to come around and score the tying run.
"It was that close," May said. "Jameson hit the ball hard, he crushed it. Anyone would have been lucky to make that play. It was a hard-hit ball."
May induced a fly ball to center to get out of the inning.
"It was a tough play for Timmy there, he almost had it," Douglas coach John Glover said. "Our response was awesome, though. Troy gets on with a double, Crozier has a perfect bunt to get him over and Beau comes up big. You can't ask for more than that.
"It's a special group of kids all the way around. Special group of seniors. They wanted it really bad. They worked hard all year for it. It's just a really satisfying end to the playoffs."
It was the second time Douglas been in the regional title game in the last three years. The Tigers fell to Galena in Minden in 2007 and several of this year's seniors were starters on that team.
"It really helped, I think, that we were out there as sophomores," Hoelzen said. "You're always going to have butterflies, but I think it was a little bit less today because we had that experience before. This is just so much better, being on this side of it."
Glover agreed.
"A few years ago we were in this game and lost to Galena in a close game," he said. "It's what you work for all year. It's exciting. I can't put it into words, I'm still stunned."
