Byrd doubled with one out, stole third and finally scored on Jorge Padilla’s grounder to deep short to secure Piedmont’s 3-2 victory, its 19th in 28 games.

“It was intense out there,” whewed the sweat-soaked Byrd. “You gotta love games like this. You gotta love wins like this.”

The 4,118 fans who jammed into the stadium certainly did. Although most came thinking postgame fireworks, they left thinking about the exciting rally in the eighth and the rousing finish that kept each and every customer on the edge of his seat.

Piedmont had forced extra innings in the eighth behind Byrd, who once held the title of all-state football player as a high school senior in Georgia.

With two outs and the Boll Weevils trailing 2-1, Alex Rojas beat out an infield hit. The light-hitting second baseman, entered the game 0-for-14 in his last five games.

Byrd, who had only one hit in his previous seven at-bats, sliced a pitch down the right-field line. By the time the ball bounced back into the infield, Rojas had scored easily and Byrd was standing on third fifth triple of the season, a figure which paces the South Atlantic League.

“I’m real happy for Byrd,” said hitting coach Jerry Martin. “He had been struggling and we worked a little extra today.”

Byrd was called on again in the clutch with one out in the bottom of the 11th. He belted a one-out double — and then, the fun began.

Byrd surprised everyone in the park by stealing third. He dove head-first into a cloud of dust for his ninth theft of the season and second of the game.

“Marlon gets good jumps,” said Weevils manager Greg Legg. “Give Marlon credit on that one, not me.”

Up to the plate stepped Nate Espy, who entered the game as the league’s second best hitter at .388. Despite being 0-for-4, the cleanup hitter worked reliever Brad Stokes relentlessly, fouling off several pitches. And then, he rocketed a shot down the right-field line that brought the fans to their feet.

“I thought that was it,” said Byrd.

It wasn’t. The ball was inches foul.

On the next pitch, Espy bounced a hopper over third.

“I thought that was it,” Byrd said.

It wasn’t. The ball was inches foul. The crowd booed but Legg admitted the obvious. The umpire was right.

Espy eventually walked, bringing up Jorge Padilla, who was also hitless. But Padilla slashed a hard grounder to the hole. Byrd scored easily as shortstop Jose Cantu made a diving stop. He forced Espy but was too late to get a celebrating Padilla at first.

“Padilla has had some tough luck lately,” said Martin. “He had hit the ball hard three times tonight and got nothing out of it. But he is seeing the breaking ball better and that’s what he hit.”

Legg was gleefully bounding around the clubhouse afterward. He had certainly enjoyed himself.

“It was just a great ballgame,” he said. “Both teams made plays. Even on that last one, their shortstop was laying on his back, trying to turn a double play and got the guy at second. You take away the first inning, where they made two errors and we made one, and the defense was great. The pitching was great.”

Those two RiverDog errors helped Jay Sitzman score. Piedmont’s leadoff hitter reached on an error and eventually scored when third baseman Julio Salas muffed Russ Jacobson’s grounder with two outs.

Matire Franco, a 19-year old from the Dominican Republic gave up eight hits in his six innings of work. But he left trailing 2-1 after Charleston scored in the sixth.

Piedmont had an uncharacteristic five hits Friday night but it didn’t matter. Once again, the Boll Weevils had found a way.

“From Day One, these guys have played with a lot of heart and a lot of guts,” said Legg.

“It’s great to have a group of players who always think they’re going to win,” added Martin.

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