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• After going the entire season without losing a dual match or tournament, it’s only fitting that the starting five on the defending state champion Deerfield-Windsor golf team had to pull together when it mattered most Monday — in a single playoff hole of the GISA Class AAA state finals — to go ...

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Derek Barichello

The defending state champion Deerfield-Windsor golf team had played Hole No. 18 on their home course at Doublegate Country Club hundreds of times before.

But never like this.

The Knights, who had not lost a dual match or tournament all season, needed to win a one-hole playoff on No. 18 against Stratford Academy on Monday to break a GISA Class AAA State Tournament tie of 308— DWS’ second-worst score of the season.

With a convoy of golf carts following every shot and a gallery awaiting them around the circumference of the green, two clutch putts from Neal Wethington and Ashton Pellicano, along with a big drive from senior star T.J. Mitchell keyed a one-under par combined score to clinch the second consecutive state title for the Knights.

“We got our second chance,” No. 1 Knights player Mitchell said after finishing with a 77. “And we weren’t going to let ourselves lose.”

And lose they did not.

Winning the coin toss with a call of “heads,” the experienced Knights — led by seniors Mitchell, Wethington and Pellicano — the reigning Herald Player of the year for boys golf — along with juniors Collin Ho and Brad Germany, elected to play first and put the pressure on a much younger Stratford group filled with three sophomores, a junior and a freshman.

Wethington, who finished with an 82 for the Knights, made up for it by applying the pressure immediately.

Wethington pitched his way to the green on his third shot and sank a 15-foot putt for par, sending the DWS fans into a frenzy.

“I got goosebumps,” Wethington said. “That was big. It wasn’t falling for me (at first Monday) — but I guess I was due.”

Wethington’s clutch putt set the tone for what would follow.

Anchoring the Knights off the tee was No. 2 Ashton Pellicano, who turned in a team-best 71 behind Augusta Prep medallist Lee Knox and earned All-State honors.

But Pellicano — like Wethington before him and his teammates after him — was not phased by the pressure.

Pellicano not only reached the green on two shots, but he tapped in a birdie to send the Knights under par.

“I think I feel better in pressure situations,” said Pellicano, who wore last year’s championship ring on his finger Monday. “It just felt so good to come through there.”

But wait — there was more.

Before Mitchell stepped up and two-putted for par, the senior showed everyone in the gallery at Doublegate why he is going to current NCAA No. 2 Georgia on a golf scholarship.

Against the instinct of DWS coach Gordy Gruhl and after his worst round of the season with a 77, Mitchell whacked his tee shot over the trees and nearly onto the green, just missing the hazards.

“My adrenaline was going,” Mitchell said. “I was so angry because I knew we deserved to win.”

Though the drive provided Mitchell an opportunity for birdie and eventual par, it almost gave Gruhl a heart attack.

“I told him to just hit something in play,” Gruhl said. “Then I saw him whack the ball over the trees on the left side. Man, I got a lump in my throat. He tried the same thing in practice and ended up in the trap.

“But I’ll tell you, to hit a shot like that over the trees with all that water and trap over there, it takes a lot of confidence.”

Knights No. 3 Collin Ho, who carded a 78 in regulation, putted in for par, making one-under the score to beat.

However, Stratford’s attempt to match DWS came up well short.

The Eagles’ No. 3 Bryant Walker, No. 4 Stephen Harris and No. 2 Thomas Holmes all made par, while No. 5 John White, who turned in a team-low 71, finished with a bogey, meaning No. 1 Brian Beninger’s attempt for par was unnecessary.

“We had two looks a birdie,” Stratford coach Cater Pierce said. “One of them lipped out and the other wasn’t close.”

Stratford, which was beaten by DWS three times during the regular season, had its best chance to win for the first time in four meetings on the same No. 18 hole in regulation.

But Mitchell made sure that didn’t happen.

With the score dead even between not only DWS and Stratford but Benninger and Mitchell, the Stratford No. 1 missed a long putt for birdie and tapped in for par to finish with a 77.

“We didn’t tell him what he was playing for,” Pierce said. “He knew it was close but we didn’t want him to know.”

Mitchell, on the other hand, found out how close the match was on his final putt — and like the leader he’s become for the Knights during the past four years — he came through.

“I saw (coach Gruhl) before my final putt,” Mitchell began, “(and) he told me, ‘We need this one to tie.’ ”

The putt fell down, and on to a playoff the two teams went.

But just getting to that point was something DWS wasn’t even sure it would accomplish because after nine holes of play, the Knights sat in third place behind Augusta Prep, who eventually placed third with a score of 311, while Stratford in second.

“When I came in after (the front) nine, I heard it wasn’t good,’” Pellicano said. “I knew we had to step it up if we wanted to be champs.”

In between downpours during the round, the Knights found a way to correct their sloppy play.

“It was really tough to play through,” Ho said of the weather Monday. “It’s so hard to tell how much the rain will affect the ball.”

 In the end, Stratford finished second, with Augusta Prep third (311), while fourth went to Pinewood Christian (327).

But like they have all year, the Knights fought through adversityto come back and win once again — this time when it counted the most.

“I’m relieved,” Gruhl said after the playoff hole as he sat down for the first time since the playoff hole. “That’s all I can say. I’m just glad these boys did it because it would’ve been a huge disappointment otherwise.”

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