Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
Parker Greenhill’s senior season hasn’t gone according to plan, but Friday night he added a memorable chapter.
Greenhill worked a scoreless seventh inning to earn a save and preserve a 4-3 win over MacArthur that kept Piedmont’s season alive for another day.
Joint pain in his upper body has kept Greenhill off the mound for most of this season, but Friday the pain subsided enough for him to take the mound in a pressure-packed situation.
Final: Piedmont 4, MacArthur 3. Parker Greenhill strands two in scoring position to earn the save and extend Piedmont’s season. #okpreps pic.twitter.com/xGMolkaqJZ
— Blake Colston (@CBlakeColston) May 5, 2018
“When you get out there and see everyone knowing you’re supposed to do good, it’s a little rougher than you think,” Greenhill said.
With the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Greenhill got a softly hit ground ball off the bat of Jack Smith to third baseman Anthony Morejon who fielded and threw across for the final out.
Greenhill shook off the original pitch call of curve ball to throw Smith a changeup.
“I wanted that because I knew he’d be early,” Greenhill said. “Sure enough he hit it right to Morejon.”
Head coach Kory Williams said he had no reservations about bringing Greenhill into the game.
“He’s a senior guy who wants it bad,” Williams said. “We trust him in that situation. He came in and did exactly what we needed him to do. Very proud of him.”
Jared Gay started for PHS and lasted six innings while allowing three runs on three hits to earn the win. Zak DeLong took the loss for the Highlanders.
MacArthur (25-9) led 3-0 after after three innings, but Piedmont (15-21) rallied to score four runs in the top of the fourth with Trace Larson providing a two-out, two-RBI double that stood up as the game-winning hit.
“We’ve had runners on all week, we just haven’t gotten a big hit,” Williams said. “Finally, we were able to put together a big inning.”
Piedmont and MacArthur will meet in a winner-take-all regional Saturday at noon. The Wildcats have played in the if-necessary game to reach state in each of the last two seasons. They’ve won both.
“We told the guys before the game, we’ve been here before,” Williams said. “Let’s keep grinding it out and make them come back to our place on Saturday.”
