CENTRE – The Cherokee County Warrior baseball team has a drill called the Bermuda Triangle. It involves head coach Will Smith hitting a ball between second base and right field, and they have to go get it.

On Thursday afternoon in the top of the fifth inning of the Class 4A, Area 9 championship game against Jacksonville, Warrior second baseman Malachi Horton executed the play to perfection.

The Golden Eagles had loaded the bases with one out, with leadoff batter Dreylan Fomby at the plate. Fomby sent a fly ball into the Bermuda Triangle, but Horton had a beat on it. He not only caught it, but he had the presence of mind to throw it to first to double off Jacoby Zackery to get the Warriors out of the inning.

“It was big for me and my team because we had the bases loaded and they had a pretty good hitter up,” Horton said. “He hit the ball pretty well, so that was a big play for me and my team to get us out of that inning and to put us back in the dugout to go hit.”

“At first when I went to get the ball, I didn’t think I was going to get it. It turned out I had a pretty good angle on it and I made the catch. They were all screaming ‘one’ at me. I just turned around, kept my composure and threw it to one.”

The play sparked the Warrior bats and baserunners to end the game. They scored four runs to take a 16-6 victory in five innings.

Smith said Horton’s double play “sealed the deal” for the Warriors (15-12).

“That was their inning to do some damage and get back into the ball game,” Smith said. “Malachi just made a great play. I’ll be honest. I thought it fell. I didn’t know it, but he comes up with it and the next thing I knew we’ve got a double play. It takes things like that, guys being in the right spot, doing what they’re coached to do.”

And, just like the Warriors are coached to do, they were aggressive at plate and on the base paths. They scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and chased Golden Eagle starting pitcher Nick Salmon from the game.

The Golden Eagles (12-14) battled back in the top of the second for three runs to make it a one-run game at 4-3, but the Warriors kept adding to their lead. They scored a run in the second, five more in the third, two in the fourth, and the final four in the fifth.

“I think we really learned our lesson against White Plains. We won the first game against them, then it was almost like the moment was too big for us,” Smith said. “We came out and played terribly in every phase of the game (in a 12-0 game two loss on April 7). We didn’t have good approaches at the plate. We played terrible defense. We pitched badly and got thrown out on the base paths more than we have all year. We got run ruled. I told them ‘Guys, this is probably the best thing that could ever happen to us.’ From that moment, we preached every day, don’t let the moment be too big for you. In a high-emotion game, make sure your minds are clear and that you’re focused.

“We did a great job of answering. Every time they put up one or two, we’d put up three or four. The guys won that baseball game with their effort. We put pressure on them on the base paths. We hit the baseball. We didn’t have a lot of strikeouts. The guys just played well.”

Connor Wilson led the Warriors at the plate by going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Tristan Whitefield and Walker Pruett both had a pair of hits. One of Whitefield’s hits with a double. He also scored two runs and drove in another. Pruett stole three bases, scored three runs and drove in another.

Haden Wheeler doubled to left to lead off the bottom of the first. He also scored a run and drove in another. Horton had a hit, a walk, two stolen bases and two runs. Cooper Rodgers finished with a hit, two walks and two runs.

Tito Canales, Taj Morris and Christian Royster had a pair of hits each for the Golden Eagles. One of Royster’s hits was a double. He also walked and scored two runs. Canales drove in two runs. Morris scored a run and drove in another. Fomby finished with a hit, a walk, a run and a RBI.

Daegan Scott earned the win for the Warriors. He tossed 4 1/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on nine hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Scott was appreciative of the run support the Warriors gave him on Thursday.

“There’s a lot of room for error,” he said. “You can kind of chill out a little bit and calm down, just throw it over the plate and let them hit it. I know my defense will work behind me.”

And the Warriors also worked their way to an area championship and into the state playoffs.

“They’re on the brink of doing something special,” Smith said. “I couldn’t be any prouder of them.”