And then there were eight. The "elite eight."

Tiger's fans and coaches dubbed their title run the "Don't Stop Believing Tour."

Maybe they should fill their tour bus up with gas before prices go any higher, 'cause they're "going on the road again."

The improbable Cinderella-like run of the King's Ridge (KR) baseball Tigers continued unabated yesterday as the upstart team -- a squad with no seniors on its roster playing it's first season of GHSA ball -- pounded out 10 hits in crushing the heavily favored Mt. Paran Eagles 8-3 in the third game of their playoff series.

The win enabled the Tigers, a Division-A high school, to advance to the GHSA state tournament quarterfinals.

They'll face off with Providence Christian Academy (PCA) in Lilburn for another best of three series starting with a Tuesday double-header.

The Tigers' hot bats continued after Wednesday's bottom of the seventh comeback, a 5-4 shocker that had Mt. Paran players and coaches talking to themselves all night. The Eagles emotional hangover hovered like a wet blanket for most of the pivotal game. "It was a tough night," said MP veteran skipper Harvey Cochran. "We tried not to dwell on it, but it certainly carried over to this game."

After a pre-game coin flip made the Tigers the home team (the game was played at MP) the Eagles showed some early life and got on the board with 2 runs in the top of the first against Tigers starting pitcher Jeff Sneed [pictured below]. 

After two quick outs, a walk and bad- hop hit, Jordan Versteg and Keith Johnson each singled in runs. With runners on first and third and two outs, Johnson, who is not a threat to steal, took off for second base on what he thought was a hit and run play. But Eagles batter Tyler Grace missed the sign, and Tigers catcher Patrick McClure [pictured below, right] nailed Johnson by 10 feet for the final out. It was the precursor of what would turn out to be a bad day of errors, missed signs, base-running mistakes and untimely hitting for the Eagles.

KR wasted no time in teeing off against MP hurler Grace, a middle reliever who was forced into the starter's role due to an injury to another pitcher. Grayson Byrd reached on an error -- one of 3 on the day by the Eagles – and Sneed followed with sharp single to left. After Devon Schmitt bounced into a double-play, Luke McCracken -- who has been on fire of late -- roped an RBI single to plate Byrd before John Jarrard followed with a base hit to drive in McCracken, who had swiped second, knotting the game at 2-2.

Both Sneed and Grace settled down, each hurling a scoreless second inning. MP pushed a run across in their half of the third on a double to left by Ryan Murphy that just eluded a diving Hunter Damron.

MP's 3-2 lead proved short lived, however.

KR erupted for 4 runs in the bottom half of the inning, sending 10 men to the plate. After Byrd made what would turn out to be the first of his two outs in the frame, Sneed got things going by reaching on an error -- and KR jumped on it. Schmitt singled and McCracken pounced on a Grace change-up, lacing his second hit of the day to drive in Sneed. Jarrard followed with a sharp single to right to fill the sacks for McClure, who took a 3-2 pitch for a walk, forcing in a run, and chasing Grace.

McCoy rudely greeted Eagles reliever Lardon Faulkner with a laser to score a run before Slade Osborne took one for the team, getting hit off a 2-1 pitch for an RBI, giving the Tigers a 6-3 lead. They never looked back.

The Eagles attempted to mount a threat in the fifth, but yet another base running faux pas snuffed it out. Zack Greenwell blooped a hit to right and Murphy singled to center, putting runners on first and second with no outs.

Tigers head coach Jason Couch then pulled Sneed, who labored -- scattering 10 hits for  3 runs over four innings -- in favor of fireball reliever Jarrard.

It proved out as the right decision. Jarrard struck out Eagles clean-up hitter Will Schume, getting him to chase a high and tight 2-2 dead red. Greenwell then got himself picked off second after being caught in an inexplicable pickle with just one out. Jarrard then coolly coaxed McKenzie into a bouncer to third. And that was that. Lights out for MP.

KR put the game away in the bottom of the inning when McCoy launched a two-run bomb over the center field fence, golfing a 2-0 diving knuckle ball from lefthander Colton Cannon, who had pitched a 1-2-3 fourth for the Eagles. The dinger scored Jarrard, who reached on a seeing eye-single through the infield, setting the stage for McClure's moon-shot.

Jarrard shut MP down for next two frames, aided by a 6-4-3 double play in the seventh.

The Tigers closer, nicknamed "JJ", allowed four hits and no runs while striking out two to ice the game and send the Tigers into the next round.

Cochran says he thinks the Tigers may have a shot to win it in all.  "They [Tigers] are a very deceptive ball club," the long-time MP head honcho commented. "They are not fundamentally sound and they don't always look sharp…but they're tough to beat. They have heart…and they hit. So, yes, they're a factor."

As for KR, Couch said he threw away his "season is over" speech that he and assistant Coach Paul Byrd -- who pitched for 15-years in the big show -- had hastily crafted before Wednesday's last inning comeback. On bringing in Jarrard, Couch says Byrd told him to go with his closer and nail the coffin shut. "With 15-years pitching experience in the major leagues, I tend to listen to Coach Byrd's advice," Couch quipped. When asked if his lack of carrying any seniors on the roster was a factor, as the competition gets tougher, Couch answered, "Senior's don’t get you any runs. Hits do."

Asked if his underdog club could win the tournament, Coach said, "Why not. Someone has to, right?"

That "someone" just might be the King's Ridge Tigers.