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.
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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.”
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Burse said he kept a positive attitude coming into pitch down seven runs.
“I’m a competitive guy, so I always think I’m the best player when I’m at the plate or on the mound and I think I’m going to beat you” he said. “That’s just how I am.”
There were clutch plays from throughout the Benedictine roster to complement Burse’s production.
BC right fielder Ike Ross went down with an apparent broken bone in his arm in a play in the outfield and freshman Will Dixon came into replace the senior. Dixon delivered in the bottom of the fifth with a line shot into left center for a two-run double that closed the deficit to 8-6.
The Bears started the game with a home run on the first pitch of the game as Patrick Spencer went deep on BC starter Ridge Reddick. Cambridge scored six runs in the second inning on four hits and looked to be in control. Burse entered in the third with runners on first and second with no outs and got out the jam, and the Bears didn’t score again until the top of the eighth.
Benedictine’s Omari Burse blasts a three-run homer in a comeback playoff win over Cambridge on May 7, 2026.
Cambridge catcher Will Degenhard hit a grounder that shortstop Noah Harris backhanded and his throw to first got away, allowing Gavin Gebhardt to score the go-ahead run with no outs. But Burse toughed it out to get out of the inning.
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With one out in the bottom of the frame, Elliott Zeigler singled to right, bringing up Burse, who hit a hard shot to the pitcher, who turned to make the play at second, but Sebastian Peralta couldn’t hang on to the ball. Then, the umpires ruled that Peralta obstructed Zeigler from advancing and allowed Zeigler to take third.
That brought up standout sophomore Noah Harris and the lefty stroked a double to the wall in right center to score Zeigler with the tying run, as Burse advanced third. Harris went 3 for 5 with two RBIs.
Mason Diamond was intentionally walked, bringing up lefty Hernandez-Gambill, who took a 3-2 pitch on his right buttock to bring in Burse with the winning run as chaos ensued with a Cadet celebration.
“This game ranks up there, especially with the stakes that were involved — it was fantastic,” said BC coach Jason Pascual, in his third season leading the program. “These guys never stopped believing — you see how happy they are celebrating with the student body out there, their friends and their brothers. They never stopped believing and that’s a testament to what their season has been.”
Benedictine junior Omari Burse earned the pitching win with six strong innings of relief in a comeback playoff win over Cambridge on May 7, 2026.
Hernandez-Gambill has been a big part of the team’s success, playing first base, pitching and hitting in the middle of the order. The junior said he felt confident at the plate with the game on the line.
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“I felt like I was the perfect person to be up to bat in that situation,” Hernandez-Gambill said. “I was just looking to put the ball in play to get the run in. But then I got hit, and that got the job done. That’s the 15th time I’ve been hit by a pitch this year, and its the first time I was smiling after getting hit.”
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Benedictine walks off Cambridge in Game 3 to punch ticket to state semifinals
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