They'll get that chance after the Trojans dispatched Blessed Trinity 4-0 Tuesday in the deciding Game 3 of their best-of-three Class AAA semifinal series at Jody Davis Field.
The Trojans (32-4) won the series 2-1 and will now play host to Cartersville in the championship series. That series will begin Saturday with a doubleheader. Game 3, if necessary, will be next Monday.
It is the first shot at a team title for any North Hall squad in a bracket tournament format since the girls soccer team lost in the 2009 title game in Atlanta. (Editor's Note: North Hall's boys golf team did finish as Class AAA runner-up in 2011.)
One day after pitching a one-hit masterpiece to win Game 1, Graham finished off the Titans in Game 3 going the final 2 2/3 innings. He got the Titans' Jack Dunn to fly out to center where fellow senior Adam Kelly squeezed the final out.
(NOTE: Watch video highlights and player and coach interviews from the semifinal series win below.)
North Hall Baseball Wins State Semifinals from WDUN TV on Vimeo.
"I was just thinking throw strikes and that I have a great defense behind me if he hits it," Graham said. "When I saw it going to Adam I had no doubt he would catch it. It's just an amazing feeling. We've worked so hard for this since we were in grade school and to get here with these guys is great."
Few outside of the hallways of North Hall gave the Trojans much of a chance against the top-ranked Titans. Coach Trent Mongero, however, never wavered in his belief of his group, especially the seniors.
Graham followed fellow senior Colton Duttweiler, who went 4 1/3 innings allowing just one hit and no runs while fanning three to get the win.
"Dutt set the tone early for us and gave us a chance to win it," said Mongero, who was still teary-eyed after an emotional celebration. "Preston said he was 100 percent and he showed why he is one of the best pitchers in the state. But I need to say how much (junior catcher) Stephen Murray means to this team. He has done a great job with the pitchers all year and to see him get the big hit....well, he deserved it."
Murray delivered the killing blow with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Trojans plenty of breathing room. It was his first of the season and he couldn't have picked a bigger moment.
"I told him to look first-pitch fastball and he got one and he got a good swing on it," Mongero said.
Murray said he was surprised to see it go out.
"I wasn't trying to hit a home run," he said. "I just kept running and I don't think I noticed until I was past second base. It was a great feeling."
Never knowing what to expect in a Game 3, it looked remarkably like Game 1, which the Trojans won 1-0 in a pitcher's duel where the only run was unearned.
Duttweiler and Blessed Trinity starter Kennan Innis shut down the offenses for the first four innings. North Hall would use its defense to stay in the game gunning down two runners at the plate while it was a pair of mistakes that cost the Titans a shot at its first title since 2006.
The Titans had a chance to jump out on top in the second inning but the Trojans showed off their defense. After intentionally walking Game 2 slugger Nathaniel Maggio, Duttweiler picked him off first for the first out. Duttweiler would walk John Davis, who moved to second on a passed ball. C.J. Brazil would single to right but Davis was gunned down by Graham at the plate. Duttweiler then struck out Cody Roberts to end the inning with no runs scored despite two walks and a hit.
North Hall also had a chance in the second. Lincoln Hewett walked with two outs and then Murray was hit by Innis to put runners at first and second. But Innis got McCoy Savage to fly out to center to end the inning.
It stayed that way until the fifth as both pitchers took control. Innis retired six straight after a Graham single in the third. Duttweiler retired eight of nine until getting chased in the fifth.
The Titans again looked poised to grab the lead after Duttweiler hit Cody Roberts and Bryson Jenkins reached on a Duttweiler error. North Hall would flash some leather again, however. Jack Dunn would single to left but Hewett would gun down Roberts at the plate and Graham got Sam Roberts to line out to first to end the inning.
The Trojans would use that momentum to break the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth. Murray led off with a single and then courtesy runner Micah Strickland would move to third on a one-out single by Graham. Strickland then scored on a wild pitch by Innis for a 1-0 lead.
North Hall extended its lead to 4-0 in the sixth on three unearned runs, highlighted by Murray's two-run home run just over the leftfield wall.
Innis would go 5 2/3 innings allowing four hits and just one earned run.
Graham would get the Titans 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh to send the Trojans into the title series.
