MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In a reflection of the last series between Faulkner and Vanguard, the Lions, playing as the home team on the scoreboard, utilized a bunt to score the walk-off game-winning run in their second game of the day at Harrison Field, sending the series to Thursday's If Necessary game to decide the winner of the Montgomery Bracket. After Jackson Webber, the seventh Vanguard pitcher used in the contest, registered three consecutive strikeouts in the top of the tenth inning, Travis Aversa hit a leadoff double to deep left to set the stage for Landon Riker's sac bunt in the next at-bat. July Sosa, sent to the mound for the final two frames, took the loss when he threw the ball over the head of first baseman Alex Arauz, and Aversa, then at third, ran the final 90 feet to help his team stay alive in the race for the World Series bid. 

The play overshadowed an amazing sequence in the top of the ninth that allowed the Eagles, down 5-3, to send the seemingly unflappable Lions to extra innings. Three Vanguard relievers were called upon in the final regulation frame. Following a double play, the second of them, Charlie Pierce, walked Shawn Ross and Arauz. After another replacement at the mound, the first pitcher faced by Webber, Isaac Phillips, bombed a triple that landed barely inside the right field line and scored Ross and Arauz to tie the game and breathe life back into the Faulkner contingent in the stands. A John Michael Mathews flyout, two Sosa strikeouts and a Luke Arias lineout brought about the tenth set. 

Vanguard truly lived by the long ball in this one, as all of its points before the game-winner came by way of home runs. Arias, on four at-bats, tallied two hits that were his team's only ones until the eighth, with two runs and four RBIs off of them. The catcher's first came in the bottom of the second, when, after two outs and a walk by teammate Matt Land, he hit the two-run homer to left for the first points and a score that would hold until the sixth. Defense largely ruled the day, as starting pitchers Tyberius Correa and Anthony Castillo combined for eight strikeouts in the fourth and fifth frames. Faulkner finally broke into the scoring column in the next inning. A Jonathan Villa walk, a Shawn Ross hit-by-pitch and a balk by Castillo led to Tyler Armenta being called to the hill. Arauz then got a single off the new pitcher that plated Isaiah Brooks, Villa's pinch runner. A successful Mathews bunt brought Ross home to tie the game. 

In the bottom of the seventh, after Correa was pulled for Mike Battle, the latter retired Grady Conner for the second out. However, following another walk, Arias hit another home run over the left field fence for two more points, pushing Elijah Weeks home ahead of him. With the score, the Lions had amazingly scored 14 of their 15 runs on the day with two outs on the board, including their marathon 11-9 win earlier Wednesday to advance to the championship and eliminate Freed-Hardeman. 

In the visitor half of the following frame, after two retired batters, Ross had a single that he advanced to second base on a Matthew Lester balk and third via steal. Lester then walked Mathews, Tommy Reyes-Cruz and finally Tyler Paulsen. The latter base on balls scored Ross, which narrowed the Vanguard advantage to 4-3. However, Paulsen was later put out at second on a fielder's choice to keep the Eagles from more runs. Aki Buckson added yet another Lion homer on a 2-2 count in the inning's home half to set the table for the ninth. 

Correa was incredibly efficient, going 6.1 innings and 99 pitches with eight strikeouts to one hit and two walks. Castillo threw it 82 times in his five innings with six strikeouts, two runs and three walks. Vanguard was also aided by first baseman Joe Johnson, who made multiple outstanding defensive plays throughout the day and scored nine putouts against the Eagles, second on the team only to Arias's 11. Faulkner's catcher, Villa, recorded 15 putouts. 

Now that both teams have lost a game, the stakes for the Thursday matchup are clear: win and advance or lose and go home. A loss for Faulkner would end a streak of seven straight World Series berths. However, the Eagles were able to bounce back from the loss to Vanguard in 2016 and win the bracket; only time will tell if they can do it again.