MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Faulkner pulled off a huge 7-3 win on Tuesday afternoon at Harrison Field in the National Championship Opening Round over Montgomery Bracket top seed Vanguard, thanks to some offensive playmaking and Antonio Frias's complete game, to advance to the championship round. After entering in relief for the first time as a Faulkner Eagle against St. Thomas yesterday, Frias threw for a career game against the Lions from Costa Mesa, Calif., in what may have been the senior's last playing time at home. His stat line included bests of 145 pitches and nine innings pitched, as the only games he had both started and finished previously were seven-inning contests or run-ruled results. As if that were not enough, he retired 12 batters, his second-highest mark for his career; he tallied 13 strikeouts against Georgetown (Ky.) in 2019 and tied that number against Judson (Ill.) this season and Brewton-Parker in the SSAC Championship this month. He allowed just six hits and three walks. Brian Park took the loss for Vanguard, playing four frames for 79 throws while surrendering six hits and two walks and striking out three.

After Frias rang up Matt Land in the third, he finished off a Travis Aversa groundout when first-baseman Alex Arauz tossed it back to him from the infield to beat the runner to the bag. Left fielder Isaac Phillips then made a great sliding grab to get a fly out and move the inning to the home half. Senior Tyler Paulsen claimed a double to right center for his team's first hit, as well as his first postseason hit in a Faulkner jersey thanks to injury trouble and the pandemic.

Justin Lara proceeded to hit a 2-run home run to left on the next at-bat to give his team the lead over the Lions. Sam Anthony would have followed this sequence with another double if not for a great throw by center fielder Landon Riker to short; Anthony was out due to oversliding the base. However, following a Jonathan Villa single and Shawn Ross walk on four pitches, an Arauz single to deep center plated Isaiah Brooks, Villa's pinch runner. A wild pitch brought Ross home before a Phillips lineout ended the third. Aki Buckson responded immediately with a leadoff homer for Vanguard, but a groundout to second-baseman John Michael Mathews, sandwiched by two more Frias strikeouts, kept the Faulkner lead at 4-1. 

After giving up a walk to begin the fifth inning, Frias retired Kevin Miser, before Mathews made another routine highlight-reel defensive play. The latter got the groundout by making a diving catch and the throw to Arauz to beat Land, and a strikeout of Aversa closed the top frame. Lara made his second big play of the day by pulling off a perfect bunt for a base hit. His advance to second base on a passed ball, coupled with an Anthony walk, led Park to be replaced at the hill by Jared Greer. Greer would not last long, as Villa promptly had a groundout to advance Lara and Anthony. Ross would make the strategy pay off, as he scored all three by easily launching a homer that cleared Wares Ferry Road and tallied the final Faulkner runs on the day. Greer was then pulled for Tyler Armenta for the remainder of the game.

In the top of the seventh, Frias picked up an Isaiah Lee grounder on the bounce and flipped it over his shoulder to Arauz at first. After walking the next batter, Frias was bailed out when Miser grounded to third-baseman Tommy Reyes-Cruz, resulting in a 5-4-3 double play to put Faulkner back on offense. The eighth frame's visitor half began with a Land fly out and a strikeout of Chad Sutton before Riker singled and Buckson got two runs back on another homer. However, Villa put out Omar Ortiz at first after a dropped third strike to end that threat. The Eagles still could not yet breathe easy early in the ninth, as Joe Johnson singled after two strikes, but Frias's final strikeout and two fly outs ended the comeback and won it for the hosts. 

With the loss, Vanguard is left needing a win to advance. The Lions will start off the Wednesday action with a 3:00 game against Freed-Hardeman in the elimination round, as a result of tonight's emotional 7-6 win for the Lions out of Henderson, Tenn., over St. Thomas. The winner of that game will play Faulkner, the lone 2-0 team in the field, at 7:00 for the championship. If Faulkner wins, the tournament will be finished and Faulkner will gain the World Series bid; if the winner of the elimination game beats Faulkner, the two schools will play the If Necessary game on Thursday to determine the winner of the bracket.