Sports

Big Lott

• Deerfield power hitter Justin Lott blasts three home runs Thursday — two in the same inning — to lift the Knights to an 11-1 win against Stratford Academy during Game 1 of the GISA Class AAA Final Four.

Derek Barichello

ALBANY — Normally reserved for a coach, Deerfield-Windsor’s Justin Lott received a postgame shower Thursday.

And, boy, did he deserve it.

Lott's teammates drenched him after the senior hit a home run in each of his three plate appearances —- seeing only four pitches the entire afternoon — and all to the deepest part of the ballpark. Lott then backed it up from the mound, allowing just one run on two hits to lead Deerfield to an easy 11-1 win against Stratford Academy during Game 1 of the best-of-three GISA Class AAA Final Four series. Game 2 and Game 3 — if necessary — will be played Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. in Albany.

“They threw me the same pitch all three times,” Lott said. “I was seeing the ball well. And on the mound, I had all three pitches (fastball, curveball and changeup) working for me again.”

And thanks to Lott, the Knights now sit one game away from the GISA AAA state championship.

“That was unbelievable,” said DWS coach Rod Murray whose Knights will try to make the title game for the first time since 2005 when they lost to Tattnall Square, which will play today against North Cobb Christian on the other side of the Final Four bracket. “I can’t say enough about it. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that.”

Adversely, the Eagles are just one game away from having their season come to an end and will be looking for answers in today's off day.

"We did not even come to this ballgame," Stratford coach Jeff Treadway said. "We need to regroup and play like we can. There were no positives from (Thursday's game)."

The contest was scoreless heading into the bottom of the second inning when Lott hit the first pitch he saw over the center field fence to get the Knights going.

Then, after the Knights added three more runs in the second on a wild pitch — a single by Jake Moore and a single from Evan Boyd — Lott stepped up to the plate once again with the bases loaded.

And once again, he wasted no time, taking the first pitch to deep center for a grand slam to make it 8-0.

"That broke the game open for us," Murray said.

But Lott was not done.

Two innings later, the senior stepped into the box — attempting to answer whispers from his teammates in the dugout as to whether or not he could hit his third — and blasted another drive over the center field fence.

“We were in awe,” said Moore, who went 2-for-2 with two RBI and a walk. “There wasn't much we could say to him, except he's awesome. I’m just glad he plays for us.”

Lott’s strong all-around performance came just six days after throwing the first no-hitter of his high school career against George Walton, and after three innings Lott was once again throwing a no-hitter.

That came to an end, however, when Stratford’s Tyler Gibson lead off the fourth with a solo home run — the Eagles' lone run of the game. It ended Lott's streak of 12 consecutive innings of hitless baseball, dating back to the fourth inning against Augusta Prep in the opening round of the playoffs.

“I didn’t even think about it,” Lott said. “You can’t think about that kind of stuff out there.”

With Game 1 in their hands, Murray said he will throw Kevin McCrary in Game 2 to counter, while Treadway expects to use Colby Collins or Fielding Combs.

“We don't need to change anything," Murray said. "We’ve just got to keep playing defense, keep hitting and pitching and we’ll be all right.”

As for how the Eagles will handle Lott the next go 'round, Treadway said there are not many good options.

"There are going to be situations where we have to pitch to him," Treadway said. "We knew coming in how good of a hitter he was, this was no surprise. It's just we fell behind every hitter and we had baserunners on all day. We couldn't do anything about it."

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