Benedictine baseball team rallies from 7 runs down to reach state semifinals

With his Benedictine baseball team trailing visiting Cambridge 8-1 in the top of the third inning in a win-or-go-home scenario Thursday, Cadet baseball coach Jason Pascual brought star shortstop Omari Burse to the mound in an effort to stop the bleeding. Burse, a junior who has committed to play at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, put out the fire on the mound and ignited the Cadet offense with an incredible performance at the plate. He led the Cadets to an unforgettable comeback that culminated with a walk-off 10-9 win in the bottom of the eighth inning as he scored the winning run when junior Kai Hernandez-Gambill was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to end it.

Burse threw 89 pitches over six innings of work — allowing four hits and one earned run, in the top of the eighth, while striking out three and walking one to earn the most important victory of his high school career. In the third inning, he hit a three-run blast to left field that cut the Bears lead to 8-4. Then in the bottom of the sixth, Burse laced a 2-run homer over the tall fence in centerfield to tie the game.

He went 3-for-5 with four runs and five RBIs. The Cadets improved to 31-6 on the season and advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals. They will host North Oconee (28-6) in a best-of-three series starting with a double header on Thursday, May 14th, at time to be announced.

"I feel great, I feel like all the hard work that we put in as a team is paying off. "The way we play together is a brotherhood — BC is a brotherhood, and when we stay together nobody can beat us. " Burse said he kept a positive attitude coming into pitch down seven runs.