Graham slides headfirst into home plate to give Doggy Paddlers walk-off victory

QUINCY — Skylar Graham was not going to be denied.

“As soon as I saw he hit it and it got through, the last thing on my mind was getting thrown out at home,” Graham said. “I was there all the way.”

Quincy Doggy Paddlers manager and third base coach Brad Gyorkos made up his mind before Tommy Harrison’s at-bat he would wave Graham home on a base hit.

“No matter what,” Gyorkos said.

With one out and runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth of a 6-6 game against the Burlington Bees on Sunday, Harrison lined the first pitch he saw from Braden Sunken through the right side, and Graham scored from second with a head-first slide into home, securing a 7-6 victory for the Doggy Paddlers.

After Sunken struck out Jimmy Koza on three pitches to begin the inning, Graham and Tyler Butina worked walks ahead of Harrison, setting the stage for his heroics.

“Skylar and Butina before me worked good at-bats. It made my job pretty easy,” Harrison said. “I just got a first-pitch fastball and hit it.”

Harrison’s teammates mobbed him behind the first base bag and carried the celebration into right field. Graham immediately popped up after his slide and joined the hoard of Doggy Paddlers.

“I’m just trying to get out to him as quick as possible and go celebrate with the guy,” Graham said. “He was the guy in that moment.”

Cody Shaffer along with Jake Merda — the same man who doused Krew Bond after his walk-off home run on Wednesday — chased down Harrison and soaked him with a shower of ice water.

“I saw them coming out,” Harrison said. “I’m not the biggest fan of ice baths, so I got a little nervous, but you just have to wear it at some point.”

The bath feels pretty good after a moment like that, though.

“Of course,” Harrison said.

Harrison’s walk-off capped a three-hit day in which he also hit his third home run in seven games with the Doggy Paddlers. Since joining the team on June 8 follwing Miami, Ohio’s trip to the NCAA Tournament, Harrison is hitting .367 with a a .441 on-base percentage and .700 slugging percentage in 30 at-bats.

“I’m finally getting adjusted,” Harrison said. “It’s been a good summer. I’m having a lot of fun. I’m happy to be here.”

It helps to be hitting the cover off the ball, too.

“Yeah, a little bit,” Harrison said.

The Doggy Paddlers (8-8) are now .500 for the first time this season and finished the week 4-1.

“It’s in a sense brought us closer,” Graham said. “We have more energy and whatnot when we’re playing, so it’s leading to better results. That’s just an inner circle kind of thing.”

Quincy will have Monday off before hosting the Clinton LumberKings, who have won six games in a row and sport the Prospect League’s best record at 13-5, on Tuesday and Wednesday.