Starr’s Mill head baseball coach Brent Moseley knew he had a resilient team. Their come from behind 6-5 win over the Loganville Red Devils in the first game in the AAAA state semifinals just served as further proof.

The Panthers found themselves in an early 5-0 hole after the Red Devils got one run from a bases loaded sacrifice fly and another four off a grand slam to right field. Starting pitcher Danny Beadling was lifted and Michael Jeanes came in and pitched six strong innings of relief, giving up four hits and no runs.

Starr’s Mill’s bats came alive in the fourth as Jeanes helped his cause with an RBI double. Beadling drove in two runs with a double of his own two batters later. Jesse Baker followed Beadling with an RBI single and Ken Jackson tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

Then it was nail-biting time. The Panthers and Red Devils remained knotted at 5-5 through three more innings. In the eighth, Myles Jaye led off with a single and Jeanes followed with a walk. After an out from Kevin Koziol, Terrion Pope hit a single and though a runner was out at the plate on the next play, Baker hit an RBI single to give Starr’s Mill a 6-5 lead.

Pitcher Drew Johnson protected that lead, giving up one hit and striking out the final Loganville batter for the win.

“Jeanes really stepped up for us,” said Moseley after the second game. “He was amazing. Unbelievable. And Jesse Baker with the game winning runs in both games, plus Beadling with the big hit. We really battled back today.”

In game two, Starr’s Mill started the scoring early with a two run blast to right field from Baker. It was all the offense that starting pitcher Ken Jackson would need. Jackson pitched a complete game, allowing one hit and striking out four. Starr’s Mill’s defense was stout all day, catching the Red Devils on four double plays. The defense played a huge part of the 14 shutout innings that the Panthers got against Loganville in the semifinals.

“Ken was throwing strikes today and mostly with his fastball,” Moseley said, also describing his performance as ‘amazing.’

It was an amazing day for Starr’s Mill baseball. The Panthers had never made the state semifinals in baseball before, but they looked like the old pros today. Now, they are the first AAAA team to punch their ticket to the state championship series.

On the other side of the bracket, Marist and Northgate split their games. The War Eagles of Marist topped Northgate 7-2 in game one, while the Vikings won the second game by a score of 11-8. The deciding game will be played on Tuesday afternoon and then the schedule for the final will be announced.

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