2016 NHSI: Schafer Powers Houston Over Bingham

CARY, N.C.—Houston (Tenn.) High senior outfielder Ayrton Schafer said he had some “jitters” going into Wednesday’s National High School Invitational opener against Allatoona—a game the Mustangs lost.

He felt a lot more comfortable Thursday.

The Mustangs bounced back in a big way, coming from behind to beat Bingham (Utah) High, 6-3, after losing to Allatoona, 5-0, Wednesday. Schafer was at the center of that offensive attack, tallying three of the Mustangs’ six hits. Batting out of the two-hole, he drilled a double to the left-field wall in his first at-bat, then pulled another double to left in the third.

His biggest blow, however, came in Houston’s sixth inning. Down, 3-1, after a sloppy defensive fifth inning allowed Bingham to score three runs, the Mustangs responded with a five-run rally. A two-run double from Schafer—his third of the game—gave the Mustangs a 5-3 lead.

“I told him (earlier in the game), ‘Man, I hope you come up with guys on,'” Houston coach Lance McCarter said, laughing. “And he did, and I said, ‘That’s great coaching right there.'”

Added Schafer: “I was really, really comfortable at the plate. And this is obviously the biggest tournament that we’ve ever played in outside of the state tournament, and we’ve always been put in big positions to come through with clutch hits, and luckily it was my turn today.”

After the Mustangs took the lead, senior righthander Brandon Maxwell shut the door on Bingham, escaping a sixth-inning jam and pitching a relatively easy seventh. He had entered the game during Bingham’s three-run fifth, taking over for righthander Grayson Kemp, who commanded an 80 mph fastball and used a slow curveball as his main out pitch, allowing four hits and striking out four in 4 1/3 innings.

For McCarter, it was crucial to see a response from his offense after getting shut out against Allatoona the day before. McCarter told his team after that game, “It’s important now to see how you’re going to fight, to see how you’re going to battle.”

On Thursday, the Mustangs battled their way to a win.

“It was a good hard-fought win,” McCarter said. “We came back late, and I didn’t think we were going to score again the rest of the season. And we put five on them in the sixth when they took the lead 3-1, and then we held on for life.”