Pope Baseball Pulls Off Upset of the Year
There are upsets, and then there is history. Never has there been a clearer differentiation between the two than in the second round baseball matchup between Pope and Buford just last week.
Let’s set the stage. Buford entered the series with an unblemished 31-0 record and a No. 1 national ranking, outranking many other perennial powerhouses such as IMG Academy, Barbe and Jesuit. The Wolves had only allowed more than four runs in a game once, and had pitched 19 shutouts. Pope, on the other hand, suffered eight losses, losing to mid-level programs such as Kennesaw Mountain, Harrison and Whitewater.
As expected, Buford demolished Pope in the first game of the series, winning 8-1 in convincing fashion. Pope, however, rebounded strongly, sending the second game into extra innings, already a remarkable feat against a talented Buford squad. In one of the biggest shockers all year, the Greyhounds walked it off with an RBI single in the 11th inning, handing Buford its first loss since early March 2020. This win would be historic for Pope, but it didn’t change Buford’s prospect of a state title at all. The Wolves were still the clear favorites.
Amongst a capacity crowd on Thursday night, Buford faced Pope in what seemed to be a mere formality of a third game. It sure seemed that way after a Riley Stanford RBI single to put the Wolves up early, 1-0. The Greyhounds held their ground. They brought in three runs in the top of the second inning, fending off Buford for a few innings longer. The game remained tied at three for several innings after a solo home run in the second inning, and an RBI double by Brett Rogers in the third.
Despite some Buford scares, Pope managed to keep the game tied entering the seventh and final inning. With two outs, Pope’s Riley Frost singled into left field, and an error in fielding allowed two runs to score, putting the Greyhounds up 5-3. It was a storybook series for Frost, as he was the one who also hit the RBI single the previous night to defeat Buford. After a quick out at the next Pope at-bat, it all came down to three outs for the Wolves.
As quick as the inning had started, it had ended. Three speedy outs by the Greyhounds sealed a series win for the history books as they knocked off the best baseball team in the US.
The Pope faithful who had made the trip from Marietta piled up against the foul-line and outfield walls while Buford fans headed for the exits, stunned into silence. This was certainly not the same powerhouse Pope team as in years past, but they showed more heart in these two days than ever. The atmosphere at Gerald McQuaig Field was one out of a movie, and so was the ending.
Pope has won four state championships, yet the Greyhounds will etch their names into the history books for one of the greatest upsets in Georgia sports history.
Written by: Dhruv Mohan
