Albany Herald

Photo by Danny Aller

LEESBURG -- The idea was to win two games and win some momentum going into the state playoffs next week.

Lee County won a lot more.

The Trojans came back all night to sweep Upson-Lee (8-4 and 15-7) in a doubleheader in the Region 1-AAAA playoffs to stay alive and catapult into the state tournament, where there's hope that this is their year.

Either way, it was definitely their night.

Just take a look at that sixth-inning mob scene at the plate, where the Trojans threw a party welcoming home Justin McCalvin.

It came after he hit his second -- that's right, second -- home run of the inning, a grand slam that lifted Lee County to a 15-7 win and right into the next week's Class AAAA state tournament.

"That was amazing,'' said McCalvin, who had hit just one home run all year. "I've got just one word for it, amazing -- the home runs, the inning and the win, all of it just amazing''

Call it the Trojan Dozen, a 12-run outburst in the sixth that erased a 7-3 deficit and rejuvenated a team that didn't want to see its season end and a wild finish that can't help but send this team to the playoffs smiling.

"That (momentum) will help a lot going into the playoffs,'' said McCalvin, who was also the wining pitcher, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out seven over the final four innings.

"Hopefully it will be enough for us to get it done.''

The Trojans (17-7) are alive and a No. 2 seed in the state tournament, which begins Friday at Lee County.

"If we would have lost that second game we would have had to play (today) and if we would have lost that one we would be done, our season would have been over,'' Lee County coach Rob Williams said. "Everything that had to happen, happened. It's about as good as it gets.''

The Trojans came back from 2-0 and 4-3 deficits to beat Upson-Lee in the opener. They used a three-run fourth inning to grab a 6-4 lead without the benefit of a hit. Lee County made the most of five walks to take the lead, and added two more in the fifth, thanks to a big RBI single from Cole Goodwin. Mark Fowler also had a big game in the opener, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

But there was nothing like the nightcap.

"We haven't had a 12-run inning all year,'' Williams said. "It was emotion. We played with a lot of emotion. When they got the two runs in the top of the sixth to make it 7-3, it was almost in the coffin. But we battled back.''

Oh, what an inning.

The Trojans, who trailed, 5-1, early and were down 7-3 in the sixth, sent 17 men to the plate, including Taylor Jordan, who led off the inning with a homer and then slapped a two-run double off the left field wall to help highlight the 12-run inning. That's three home runs and nine RBI from McCalvin (who had six RBI) and Taylor in one inning.

"It was crunk -- wild, crazy, crunk -- in the dugout during that inning,'' sad Jordan, who almost sat out the nightcap because he was feeling ill. He entered the game in the fourth and then borrowed McCalvin's bat in the sixth. It worked.

"It was just crazy,'' he said. "Everybody was into it. We were wil'n!''

Simply put, it was just as Williams said: "Emotion.''