Southern right fielder Jackson Colton crow-hopped, fired and put everything he had into his throw in the bottom of the seventh of Wednesday’s Class 2A West Region II final against Glenelg. Colton’s dart one-hopped to catcher Brendan Hinkle, who applied the tag to Blake Bourne before he slid home for the tying run.

One batter later, Colton calmly secured the final out as the third-seeded Bulldogs completed a grueling journey to the program’s first regional title since 2015 with a 4-3 win over the top-seeded Gladiators. Southern’s state quarterfinal game is at a time and placed to be determined as the eight region winners are reseeded based on regular-season record.

“Out of the fingertips, I knew that thing was going, and we were sending them home the next play,” Colton said. “Then I sent them home the next play when I caught it.”

His clutch defensive play was one of several the Bulldogs made in the late innings. Glenelg threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth with two runners in scoring position and one out. The Gladiators tried a delayed steal with one of their fastest players, Isaiah Stewart. Southern (8-12) played it perfectly and tagged out Stewart as he nearly scored the go-ahead run with a head-first slide.

“Tremendously pleased. We work on our defense every day,” Southern coach Kyle Lynch said. “We might not have the offense that’s going to blow people out, but we can pitch and we can play defense. In that case, we can win some games. Our defense certainly won that game for us at the end.”

The Bulldogs worked Glenelg starter Nick Bilotto’s pitch count to the point where he was lifted after six innings in which he struck out eight. Reliever James Wescott came on in the seventh and also struggled to find the strike zone. He walked the first three hitters, and what proved to be the winning run came around to score when Clint Dorval was hit by a pitch.

The Bulldogs entered the regional final with an abundance of external motivation after the Gladiators (14-5) ended the Bulldogs’ season in last year’s regional semifinals, when Southern was one out away from a win.

Meanwhile, throughout Wednesday’s game, the Bulldogs’ coaching staff echoed a consistent message: “A 1% chance we’d be here.” That was in reference to pre-playoff predictions made by PBR Maryland. The organization picked the Gladiators as the favorites to win the region, while the Bulldogs were one of the teams given less than a 1% chance to do so.

Southern galvanized around that and has used it as a chip on its shoulder throughout the playoff run. The Bulldogs have been presumptive underdogs in their last two games. They’ve flourished in that challenge, taking down Centennial and Glenelg, two of Howard County’s top teams.

To do so, the Bulldogs have leaned on the two consistent principles that are particularly important in the postseason: pitching and defense.

Southern’s offense did just enough to get the job done as they started off strong against Bilotto with a pair of first-inning runs. The Bulldogs capitalized on some of Bilotto’s early command struggles, including two walks and a pair of wild pitches. They extended the lead to three in the fourth on two hit-batters, a walk and a bunt single.

“Our mantra all year on offense has been, string the at-bats together, pass the at-bat to the next guy,” Lynch said. “We’re not going to hit a three-run home run, but if we can put together a couple of singles or a couple of walks and execute some bunts, that will be successful.”

Glenelg immediately responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Stewart drove in a run with a base hit to left and later came around to score on a balk. Meanwhile, Tyler Blayman delivered the other big hit of the inning with an RBI single to right-center. Southern starter Gavin Brandell battled throughout and limited Glenelg’s offensive production for much of his five innings.

After Southern retook the lead in the top of the seventh, Bourne’s leadoff single and advance to second on a throwing error had the Gladiators in business in the bottom of the frame. However, Southern’s defense shored up from that moment and Coulter and Hinkle emerged as the heroes.

After an underwhelming regular season, the Bulldogs are continuing to defy expectations. They are one of the last eight teams in 2A and proving that at least in this case, the 1% is stronger than the majority.

“It shows that we’re underdogs,” Hinkle said. “Smallest school in the county, we showed up. They gave us a one percent chance to win this game, and we proved them wrong, that feels great. I’m really proud of these guys, especially as a senior.”

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