EASTLAKE, Ohio – The team without a school doesn’t give up.
Birmingham-Southern is still rocking.
Now playing despite school being closed for good, the Panthers kept their hopes of winning a national championship alive Saturday night with a thrilling 9-7 comeback win over Randolph-Macon in the Division III World Series.
Jackson Webster hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to give Birmingham-Southern, a team that quickly captured the attention of sports fans across the country with its feel-good story, a victory that bordered on the surreal.
“Baseball miracle, right?” Webster said. “The storybook is not finished.”
The Panthers squandered a 4-0 lead and fell behind 7-4 before scoring three runs in the eighth — getting back-to-back RBI singles by hitters in the rally — to tie it.
Then came the ninth and a moment seemingly taken from a Hollywood script or a Disney film.
Andrew Dutton led off before Webster, who hit a two-run home run in the first, threw a nasty swing at the first pitch. It was so bad and strange that he walked out of the batter’s box and beat his chest while apologizing to manager Jan Weisberg.
Webster didn’t miss the next pitch.
Hitting a hanging curveball, he sent his home run over the wall in left field to set off a huge celebration on the field and in the Classic Park stands.
When he reached third place and was cheered by his delirious teammates, a boisterous group of brothers from the school’s Sigma Chi fraternity, who kept the faith when things looked bleak, danced in the hallways.
It was yet another memorable moment in a season full of them for Birmingham-Southern and a team united by adversity.
“Just brave,” said Weisberg, whose 17th season at the school presented challenges he never could have imagined. “These guys’ fight is the story of the night.”
Birmingham-Southern, which lost the national title game in 2019, advanced from the double-elimination tournament and will face the loser of Salve Regina and Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday.
Based on the wild scene outside their charter buses, it can be difficult for anyone from Birmingham-Southern to get enough sleep.
After losing their opener to Salve Regina on Friday, the same day Birmingham-Southern officially closed its doors for the first time since 1856 due to financial difficulties, the Panthers faced a make-or-break situation to maintain their season – and the legacy school – going.
Unlike Friday’s game, when they fell behind 7-0 before the rally, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on Webster’s two-run home run and Charlie Banks’ solo shot. – both balls hitting a sign beyond the left-center field wall advertising a free car wash for Lake County Captains fans.
But Randolph-Macon caught up to them in the seventh and then took the lead with three runs in the eighth when the Panthers had two wild pitches and things began to fall apart to the point where it seemed like Birmingham Southern’s season and program were over.
Weisberg thought the worst.
“You can’t help but have the feeling of – is this how it’s all going to end?” he said. “But with everything this team has been through in particular, with everything we’ve had hanging over our heads, I admit it happened to me for a brief moment between innings.
“I started thinking about what am I going to say? Will I keep it all together? And I said to myself, stop, just stop.”
There’s no room for error, but the Panthers haven’t felt pressure in months. That’s easy after what they’ve been through. Once the school’s decision was made, the BSC players made their own decision to finish strong.
Under Weisberg’s firm guidance, Birmingham-Southern’s summer boys have been playing freely for months, relieved between the foul lines after learning in late March that their school was closing.
Baseball brought them together and helped them overcome what some team members described as the loss of a family member.
It’s been an emotional journey for players, parents, alumni, faculty and everyone with any connection to Birmingham-Southern’s liberal arts college since the announcement in March that a $30 million loan from the state of Alabama it wasn’t coming and closure was necessary.
“At first, there was a lot of sadness,” said Cole Steadman, one of several players from the 2019 team who supported this special edition of the Panthers. “We were so devastated to hear the school was closing, but seeing the community come together was special.”
___
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
