Never in his wildest dreams could sophomore Jacob Doerflinger imagined walking on the varsity mound to pitch for the first time all season to have such a wild outcome.

Doerflinger entered the home opener against Carroll in the bottom of the seventh inning with no outs and Maize ahead by one run.

“Basically, I just needed to step up and come through for my team,” he said.

After giving up a hit and walk to load the bases, he struck out the next three Carroll batters to end the game, which Maize won 7-6.

The final batter worked a full count before Doerflinger got him to swing and miss at the final pitch.

“I didn’t let that final count get to me,” he said. “I’ve been in many other 3-2 counts before, and I had just treated it like any other 3-2 count.”

Once the umpire made one last call striking out the final Carroll batter, Doerflinger admitted it he let out a sigh of relief.

“It was all about the mentality of wanting to win,” he said.

Doerflinger wasn’t the only star of the game. Senior center fielder Corrigan Bartlett saved a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. With a runner at third base and Maize clinging to a 7-6 lead, Bartlett ran far to his right and made a diving catch to end the inning.

It was just a normal play for an outfielder to make,” he said. “We needed to save that run from coming in. Honestly I didn’t know how big a play that would be until it came down to the bottom of the seventh.”

Bartlett was impressed with Doerflinger’s performance.

“It was huge for the team,” he said.

Connor Lungwitz got the win for the Eagles, pitching into the fifth inning. He struck out seven. He allowed three hits and one run.

Maize plays Hutchinson this Friday at home.