Scott junior Andy Reed entered the postseason still chasing the kind of moment every baseball player imagines at some point in their career.
A walk-off.
He didn’t have one…until Monday night.
In a win-or-go-home setting, the 37th District baseball semifinals delivered the perfect stage, and Reed delivered the finish, a walk-off hit to lift Scott past Bishop Brossart 3-2 at the Mustang Athletic Complex and send the Eagles into the district championship.
“I was just thinking about it the other day,” Reed said. “I’ve never walked off in my career and now it feels amazing. I love it.”
The moment didn’t come in a vacuum. It came after a tense, chess-match seventh inning, with the game tied and pressure mounting on every pitch. Scott loaded the bases after a pair of intentional walks around the heart of the order, forcing Brossart into a high-risk scenario with Reed stepping in.
“It’s a gamble,” Bishop Brossart head coach Ron Verst said. “You’ve got a guy at third and the squeeze comes into play, and we don’t have a force at home. You’re hoping they put a ball on the ground, maybe turn a double play, just give yourself a chance to get out of it. Strategy-wise, we felt it was the best way. Give it a shot and see what happens.”
The strategy nearly worked. The count ran to 3-1, and with one more pitch to navigate, Reed got his swing and didn’t miss the moment.
He drove the ball into left field, and Trey Cook came across to score the winning run as Scott celebrated their second straight district semifinal win over the ‘Stangs.
“I knew it was coming,” Reed said. “I knew that 3-1 pitch was coming to me and I was going to hit the ball hard somewhere, whether that was over an outfielder’s head or right at somebody.”
The finish added another chapter to a growing postseason rivalry between the programs. The teams also met in last year’s district semifinals, a game Scott won in walk-off fashion as well.
“I knew it was going to be close, it’s always a fun game,” Scott head coach Patrick Dragan said. “We walked them off in the district last year, and I knew coming in it was going to be a dogfight.”
This meeting, however, looked different early. Unlike Scott’s 6-1 regular-season win on April 20 at the same field, Monday night turned into a pitcher’s duel from the start.
Scott’s Ty Cook once again anchored the Eagles on the mound, building on a dominant regular-season outing against the Mustangs where he struck out 16. This time, he struck out 12 while allowing just one hit and no earned runs, grinding through traffic but keeping Scott in position to win.
“I used the same fuel as I did in that game,” Cook said. “I didn’t want to psych myself out, I just wanted to come into this game and dominate.”
Brossart’s Luke Neltner, a 37th District All-Tournament Team selection, matched the intensity, working through six innings while keeping Scott from pulling away.
Bishop Brossart struck first in the fourth inning after an error, but Scott answered immediately with an RBI single from Eli Smith. The Mustangs briefly reclaimed the lead in the fifth on another miscue, only for Smith to respond again in the sixth with an RBI double that tied the game.
From there, the stage was set for Reed’s final swing.
He made sure it counted.
On the day, he also added a double and scored one of the Eagles’ three runs.
With the win, Scott advances to the 37th District championship and secures their place in the 10th Region Tournament for the third consecutive year.
Brossart finishes the season 17-20 and graduates six seniors, including shortstop Isaac Amin, the preseason No. 1 player in the 10th Region.
“I told him he’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached,” Verst said. “We’re going to miss a kid like that. He was a good leader.”
Scott will face Campbell County in the district title game Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Mustang Athletic Complex.
MORE PHOTOS: Provided by Charles Bolton
EAGLES 3, MUSTANGS 2
BISHOP BROSSART — 000-110-0 — 2-1-2
SCOTT — 000-101-1 — 3-8-5
RBI — (S) Smith 2, Reed
2B — (S) Reed, Smith (BB) Moeller
WP — Cook. LP — Neltner.
Records: Scott 16-17, Bishop Brossart 17-20