Turner's Walk Off Wins It For Groves

By Brent Alwine
Regional Scout


Southfield struck first getting to Groves starter Brad Damman in the first inning. Corey Oliver and David Cole had back to back base hits giving Southfield an early 2-0 lead.  Southfield added a run in the third inning with an RBI single by Joe Purdy.

Birmingham Groves countered in the bottom of the third breaking through with five runs to lead 5-3. The inning was capped off by a bases clearing double by Spencer Robnett. Groves took on one more run on an RBI ground out by Mallik Brown.

The top of the fifth saw Southfield take the lead back at 8-6 with Purdy’s double scoring two and Mike Warren’s single scoring two more. Groves loaded the bases in the bottom half of the sixth scoring four runs lead by a single from Jason Bitker.

In the top of seventh, Evan Ketai relieved Donoven Hertz; with the bases loaded, Cole singled to tie the game at 10-10. With the bases still loaded, Groves second baseman Justin Dennis made a diving play to get the out at first.

Groves got two runners on in the bottom of the seventh with a single by Ketai and a walk to Bitker. Up to the plate came Chase Turner, and he singled into the left center gap to win the game in walk-off fashion. Ketai was credited with the win.