Porters Chapel’s 2009 MPSA Class A championship run was in a word, improbable.

But after Thursday’s 5-1 victory in Game 2 over Bayou Academy, outfielder Josh Perry pinned down what made the Eagles click.

The Eagles, he said, were a team of destiny. Not entitlement, but destiny.

“I believe it,” Perry said after the Game 2 win. “When we came back after being down in the bottom of the inning, I knew we were a team of destiny. No doubt. I knew we were down in this game, but I knew we were going to come back. I could feel it.”

All the pieces fell into place for the most unlikely run imaginable. For much of the season, the Eagle pitching rotation consisted of Montana McDaniel and whomever PCA coach Randy Wright could get to throw a few innings. Inconsistency was the buzzword surrounding PCA’s team as they struggled to maintain any consistency.

But how things can change. The Eagles peaked with impeccable timing.

Junior Reed Gordon emerged as the No. 2 pitcher with a great four-week run. Gordon, who earned the victory in Game 2 with a two-hit gem, was a huge reason why the Eagles went undefeated in their championship run.

But was it easy? Nah. The “Cardiac Kids” always found ways to beat the odds and do things the hard way.

The Eagles needed a call to go their way against Franklin. They needed a big top of the eighth against two-time champs Bayou in Game 1.

“When we got in the playoffs, we just got on that roll,” Wright said. “It seemed like the ball bounced our way. For whatever reason, we were a team of destiny and followed through with it. I can’t say enough about the character of our kids all season long and the work ethic they had.”

Take the Eagles’ sixth-inning comeback as a microcosm of the Eagles’ season. Down 1-0 for most of the contest, the offense finally got into gear as Colby Rushing wristed a ball behind first base. McDaniel’s bunt attempt popped perilously off his bat upwards.

But like everything in this run, the ball found a hole as it fell behind Bayou’s first baseman on the infield grass. McDaniel not only moved over Rushing, but got on safely to set up a five-run outburst that gave PCA the victory.

It was all about choosing not to lose. Never giving up. Fill in your cliché here.

But in the end, the most unlikely of runs might have been the most sweet. The Greek philosopher Epicurius stated that the greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.

And that describes PCA’s run perfectly.

“It ain’t no better feeling to play your last baseball game in your life and dogpile right there in front of that pitcher’s mound,” senior infielder Clayton Holmes said. “It don’t get any better than that. That’s what every baseball player shoots for.”

Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail swilson@vicksburgpost.com..