The tying run stood on second. The winning run was on first. One swing could have ended Rake Baseball Collegiate's season.
With the bases loaded, two outs, and a championship hanging in the balance, Rake turned to the arm it trusted most.
Logan Woodward delivered.
Entering as his team’s fifth and final pitcher of the night, Woodward struck out Jimmy Casey to escape the jam and secure Rake's 4-2 victory over Philly Bandits Red in the Philly Select Collegiate Baseball League championship game Thursday night at Munro Park in Warminster.
"You get in situations like that, you kind of just gotta let it fly, trust your stuff and attack," Woodward said. "I wanted to go after them and make them beat me."
Woodward, a rising senior at Kutztown University, had spent the summer waiting for moments like this. After closing out Wednesday's semifinal victory, he was mentally and physically prepared to do it again with a championship on the line.
"I wanted to do it for the boys," Woodward said.
The dramatic finish was the culmination of a game plan established before first pitch by Rake head coach Stuart Drossner and his staff, as five pitchers combined to allow just two runs on eight hits in seven innings.
"Exactly how we planned it," Drossner said.
Piecing the game together with his best arms was always part of the plan. Needing one final strikeout with the bases loaded wasn't.
Down to their final three outs, the Bandits found life. Cubby Bailey opened the top of the seventh with a single to right field before Dax Caplan was hit by a pitch with one out. Logan Madison followed with a single to right to load the bases.
The momentum stopped there.
Jake Coughlin struck out swinging for the second out, then Drossner made his final pitching change.
"You gotta trust Logan," Drossner said. "He's been there all year long, and I trust him."
Woodward rewarded that confidence by striking out Jimmy Casey swinging, sparking Rake's championship celebration.
The victory capped what started as a back-and-forth contest in which neither team was able to seize control until the late innings.
The Bandits grabbed the early lead in the top of the first when Casey singled, stole second and scored on Ryan Price's RBI single.
Rake answered with two outs in the bottom of the second as Jake Madden lined an RBI single to center field, tying the game at 1-1.
The Bandits reclaimed the lead an inning later when Price crushed a hanging breaking ball over the left-center field fence for a solo home run, ending the night for Rake starter Lucas Kimbrough.
Once again, Rake responded immediately.
Luke Sedor delivered a two-out, RBI double in the bottom of the third to knot the score at 2-2, setting the stage for the decisive swing two innings later.
With a runner aboard in the fifth, Patrick Kilgus launched a two-run home run to right-center field to give Rake its first lead of the night at 4-2.
The Bandits refused to go quietly.
Price helped keep the deficit at two runs in the bottom of the sixth with a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch in right field that likely prevented two additional runs from scoring, giving the Bandits one final opportunity in the seventh.
That opportunity nearly became a storybook comeback before Woodward slammed the door.
As Rake celebrated its championship on the infield,
Drossner reflected on the resilient group that battled through the summer together.
"These guys really deserved it," Drossner said. "They worked hard, they bought in, and everybody came together as one team."
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