Another heartstopper.

Another comeback.

Another championship.

It’s all part of the routine for Porters Chapel Academy.

PCA rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Bayou Academy 5-1 in Game 2 of the MPSA Class A championship series Thursday at Pierce Field. The victory gave the Eagles a two-game sweep and their third Class A title in seven seasons.

“It’s absolutely the greatest feeling in the world that I’ve ever had. I don’t think anything could be better than this,” said PCA pitcher Reed Gordon, who allowed only two hits, one walk, and one unearned run in seven innings. “I knew from the start we were going to win. It was our destiny to win this game.”

After the final out, the Eagles (25-9) openly embraced two tags — team of the decade in Class A, and a team of destiny. They won eight straight playoff games, and 19 of their last 22 overall. Yet five of the eight playoff wins, including both games against Bayou, were decided in the sixth inning or later.

After a string of comebacks and lucky breaks throughout the postseason, it was hard for the Eagles not to feel as if this championship was meant to be.

“I think we are a team of destiny. When we came out, we dug it out from inside ourselves,” said catcher Josh Hill, who drove in a run in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly. “Everybody just played their part. You can’t say we’re not good enough to be state champions because we proved it.”

Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the sixth, Colby Rushing led off with a single. Montana McDaniel followed with a bunt attempt that he popped high into the air. Instead of a potential rally-killing double play ball, though, the bunt sailed over the head of Bayou pitcher Stewart Salley and fell to the ground for a hit.

“He threw it high and outside, and I pushed it that way,” McDaniel said. “I threw the bat down thinking he was going to catch it and double (Rushing) off. I bunted it hard enough that it was right in the hole.”

After Joe Borrello was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Josh Perry ripped a single to bring in two runs and put PCA ahead 2-1. Hill’s sacrifice fly, a run-scoring error, and an RBI groundout by Gordon stretched the lead to 5-1.

With a big lead, the Eagles looked to Gordon to close it out. The big 6-foot-4 junior allowed only four baserunners through the first six innings, and wasn’t about to let the Colts get untracked in the seventh.

Gordon struck out Salley to start the inning, then got Trey Wells to ground out to first. Chase Aguzzi followed with an easy popup to short that set off a wild celebration even before the ball was caught. As the ball was heading downward into McDaniel’s glove, other members of PCA’s infield threw their gloves into the air and rushed toward Gordon to start the dogpile.

*

Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com