KANNAPOLIS — Brian Hitchcox did his best impression of a Greg Louganis dive Sunday afternoon.
It was a perfect 10.
Hitchcox, the Piedmont Boll Weevils second baseman, made a miraculous catch of a flare off the bat of Asheville’s Melvin Rosario in the eighth inning that turned into a double play and preserved a 4-3 victory over the Tourists.
Piedmont (70-37) won its third straight game over the Tourists (57-49) after losing the opener of the four-game series.
But the play by the spunky Hitchcox proved to Asheville coach Joe Mikulik that the Boll Weevils are simply the best team in the South Atlantic League, a team that always makes the big play and always gets the big hit.
“If we get into the playoffs with these guys,” we can’t make any mistakes,” he said. “And with that pitching, you can’t get anything going.”
Ryan Madson, the 19-year old diaper dandy — and Hitchcox’s roommate, by the way — pitched well throughout the game. His only mistakes came when he gave up a two-run homer in the fourth and when he threw a ball away on a pickoff move in the sixth that led to a run.
But Madson still led going into the eighth 4-3. When he gave up a double to Kevin Duck, manager Greg Legg took him out.
“In the seventh, it was his game to win,” Legg said. “In the eighth, I felt he had gone too deep in the game for me to let him lose that ballgame.”
Matt Bailie came in with one out and Rosario sent a soft liner over Hitchcox’s head. If it dropped, the game would be tied.
“I thought it was way over my head,” Hitchcox said. “I just kept running and caught up with it. Itold myself, ‘I think I’ve got a chance’ and just laid out and caught it.”
He did more than just lay out, according to centerfielder Jay Sitzman, who had a good angle on the play.
“It was unreal,” he marveled. “He was full horizontal. It was a SportsCenter highlight.”
It left both managers shaking their head.
“That was a Roberto Alomar-ESPN-type play,” said Leg. Brian’s been doing that all year. That play picked us up and frustrated them.”
Duck, running on the play, was crossing home plate when Hitchcox made the catch. He was doubled off easily.
“What are you gonna do?” Mikulik wondered. “You’ve got to tip your hat to that young man. Hitchcox made a helluva play. It was the biggest play of the game — it was the biggest play of the series. He doesn’t make it and we’re still playing.”
Bailie, who hasn’t allowed a run in the past 1213 innings, did the rest, getting out of the eighth and picking up his fifth save after a relatively quiet ninth.
No one was more relieved than Madson, who won his ninth game against five losses. The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out five, walked one and gave up four hits.
Picking up the Weevils’ bats was leadoff man Sitzman. After going 3-for-4 in his game Saturday and improving on that Sunday. The Arizona State product was a perfect 4-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.
Only 735 showed up to watch the Weevils on a hot, humid and nasty day.
“It takes a little while to get going on a Sunday afternoon game,” Sitzman laughed. “It’s hard to get up in the morning.”
Once the Weevils did wake up, they began slashing the ball all over the field, racking up 12 hits.
Jorge Padilla had two hits and two RBI’s. Marlon Byrd scored twice. But Hitchcox was the hero.
“He has been making a lot of great plays lately,” Madson said. “He really shines when it matters.”
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