EASTLAKE, Ohio — The team without school won't give up.
Birmingham-Southern continues to swing.
Now playing even though school was closed for good, the Panthers kept their national championship hopes alive Saturday night with a thrilling 9-7 victory over Randolph-Macon in the Division III World Series.
Jackson Webster hit a two-run homer 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.
“The miracle of baseball, right?” Webster said. “The storybook is not finished.”
The Panthers blew a 4-0 lead and fell behind 7-4 before scoring three runs in the eighth (getting consecutive RBI singles from pinch hitters in the rally) to tie the score.
Then came the ninth and a moment seemingly taken from a Hollywood script or a Disney movie.
Andrew Dutton led off the game with a walk before Webster, who hit a two-run homer in the first, took an ugly swing on the first pitch. He was so mean and out of character that he came out of the batter's box and tapped his chest while he apologized to coach Jan Weisberg.
Webster didn't miss the next throw.
Connecting on a hanging curveball, he sent his home run over the left field wall to spark a wild celebration on the field and in the stands at Classic Park.
As he turned third and was greeted at home plate by his delirious teammates, a rowdy group of brothers from the school's Sigma Chi fraternity who had kept the faith when things looked bleak danced in the hallways.
It was another memorable moment in a season full of them for Birmingham-Southern and a team united by adversity.
“Just true grit,” said Weisberg, whose 17th season at the school has presented challenges he never could have imagined. “The fight between these guys is the story of the night.”
Birmingham-Southern, which lost the national title game in 2019, advanced in the double-elimination tournament and will play the loser between Salve Regina and Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday.
Considering the wild scene outside their charter buses, it may be difficult for anyone in Birmingham-Southern to get enough sleep.
After losing the 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 win-or-go situation to maintain their season, and the school legacy: moving forward.
Unlike Friday's game, when they fell behind 7-0 before rallying, the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on a two-run homer by Webster and a solo shot by Charlie Banks (both balls hit a sign beyond the left). center field wall advertising a free car wash for Lake County Captains fans.
But Randolph-Macon caught them in the seventh and then took a three-run lead in the eighth, when the Panthers had two wild pitches and things began to unravel to the point where it seemed Birmingham Southern's season and program were over. .
Weisberg thought the worst.
“You can't help but feel like: Is this how this is going to end?” he said. “But with everything this particular team has been through, with everything we've had hanging over our heads, I admit that I had a brief moment between innings.
“I started thinking about what am I going to say? Am I going to stay calm? And I said to myself, stop it, just stop it.”
There's no room for error, but the Panthers haven't felt any pressure in months. This is easy after what they've been through. Once the school made the decision, the BSC players made their own decision to finish strong.
Under Weisberg's steady direction, Birmingham-Southern's summer boys have been playing freely for months, unburdened between the foul lines after learning in late March that their school was closing.
Baseball has brought them together and helped them overcome what some within the team have described as losing a family member.
It has been an emotional journey for players, parents, alumni, faculty and everyone with any connection to the Birmingham-Southern liberal arts college since the announcement in March that a $30 million loan from the state of Alabama was not going to arrive and that closure was necessary.
“At first, there was a lot of sadness,” said Cole Steadman, one of several players from the 2019 team who rooted themselves in this special edition of the Panthers. “We were pretty devastated to hear the school was closing, but seeing the community come together has been special.”
