Do you believe?

Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning with their Cinderella state championship hopes fading faster then the quickening descent of the late afternoon sun, the Division 1-A King's Ridge Tigers needed to believe they could stay alive -- and stave off tournament elimination.

All their opponent -- the Mt. Paran Eagles -- needed was three outs to dispose of the pesky Tigers and advance to the quarter finals. They had already won the first game of the twin-bill 10-8, courtesy of several costly Tiger errors that led to a five run first inning Eagle outburst.

But the Eagles never got their third out. The Tigers, who don't have a single senior on their roster, roared back in dramatic fashion with three runs in their final at-bat to stun Mt. Paran, 5-4, and stay alive, forcing a 4:00 p.m. showdown today in their best of three series with the Eagles at Mt. Paran High School.

All three Tiger runs scored with two-outs.

HARRIS: LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED

Jordan Harris got things started by lacing a one-out single to right, bringing the tying run to the plate. After Hunter Damron grounded into a fielder's choice, the Tigers were down to their final three strikes. Grayson Byrd, showing poise and patience at the plate, cooly went with an outside pitch and dropped an opposite field single to right, putting the tying runners on and setting the stage for the dramatic comeback.

Jeff Sneed stepped to the dish, determined to keep the rally going. He calmly turned into an inside pitch, was plunked and subsequently awarded first base to put ducks on the pond, pushing the tying run into scoring position.

Devon Schmitt [pictured left] who led the Tigers with a .469 batting average during the regular season, used his legendary football wide receiver speed to leg out an infield hit, plating Damron to cut the deficit to a run.

Cleanup hitter Luke “Nessie” McCracken then drilled a walk off rope to left, scoring Byrd and pinch-runner speedster Slade Osborne, who raced around third to beat the throw home. Ballgame. Bedlam. Believers. Over 100 jubilant Tiger fans who made the traffic laden trip to Kennesaw to cheer on their team went crazy as McCracken was dog-piled at home plate by his teammates.

"I’m proud of the way our guys battled back," head coach Jason Couch [pictured below] commented  after the game, clearly worn out from the emotional roller coaster of the seventh inning.

 The Tigers opened the scoring with 2 first inning runs. After Byrd and Sneed smacked back-to-back singles, Schmitt hit into a force-out. McCracken followed with a sharp single to left, plating Sneed, for his first of three RBI's in the game before promptly steeling second base. Schmitt alertly raced home for the Tigers' second run when the Eagles' second baseman bobbled the throw, sliding in just ahead of the infielder's throw home.

Sneed pitched two critical shutout innings in relief to keep the game close, picking up the win.

Tigers' second game starter McCracken had a solid outing, striking out 5 while allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits.

FIRST GAME COMEBACK ATTEMPT FALLS SHORT

In the first game, the Tigers dug themselves into an early hole when fielding miscues led to a 5 run first inning for Mt. Paran, erasing and early 2-0 King's Ridge lead.

KR tried to battle back, but fell short, losing 10-8.

Byrd and Sneed got things started -- both drew walks and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Schmitt drove in Byrd on a grounder to second and McCracken singled in courtesy runner Harris for the Tigers' short lived lead.

Down 7-2, KR erupted for 4 runs in the top of the fourth to get within a run of MP, 7-6.

McCracken singled and Jarrard smoked an RBI double to right scoring McCracken. But Jarrad was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit to a triple, which proved costly. Jason McCoy singled and Slade Osborne and Damron each walked to load the bases for Byrd, who ripped a bases clearing double.

Trailing 9-6 in the fifth, Schmitt crushed a solo home run to left center to cut the Mt. Paran lead to 2 runs.

The Tigers scored their final run in the sixth as Parker Moss singled, Damron walked, Byrd singled to load the bases and Moss scored on a Sneed double play.

Tigers' students and fans have dubbed their state tournament run as the "Don’t Stop Believin' Tour."

After yesterday's heroics, what's not to believe?

KR VARSITY BASEBALL ROSTER

 2  Devon Schmitt, Junior
 3  Hunter Damron, Sophomore
 4  Slade Osborne, Freshman
 6  Grayson Byrd, Freshman
 9  Jordan Harris, Freshman

10 Parker Moss, Freshman
11 Jeff Sneed, Junior
12 Josh Carter, Freshman
14 John Jarrard, Junior
21 Luke Mccracken, Junior
23 Jackson Weldon, Freshman
25 Patrick Mcclure, Junior
27 Jason Mccoy, Junior