Tested by N.C. team, HVA baseball responds 9-3
HARDIN VALLEY — Combine Academy of Lincolnton, North Carolina, ended up imposing its will on some area teams during the 5SP-Scott Dean Memorial Baseball Classic last weekend.
But as it turned out, Hardin Valley Academy imposed its will on Combine, beating the Tar Heel State visitors 9-3 at HVA Friday night, April. 16.
“That’s a statement win in my opinion,” Hawks head coach Tyler Roach said, as Hardin Valley stood at 19-2 overall after the win and 9-1 in District 4-AAA.
Winning pitcher Connor O’Donnell went the distance, allowing two earned runs, six hits and five walks while striking out seven.
“Player of the game,” Roach said. “His fastball velocity was way up there. He was throwing a slider for a strike. ... And those are really good hitters, where you can throw a 2-0 slider and keep them off-balance.”
“Our defense is good all around. I was just trying to get balls in the strike zone and let my defense work,” O’Donnell said. “Tonight my fastball was on, I was painting the corners, and with my slider I was hitting spots on pitches I needed to.”
Hardin Valley padded a slim 3-2 lead by scoring six runs in the fifth inning — all after two outs.
A Logan Ozias double was followed by a Jaylen Jones single. Archer Wong-Shasteen’s RBI flyout came before three walks, the last drawn by Ty Denton, to force in another run.
Ethan Davidson-Browder, connected for a two-RBI double to center field making it 8-2. Brycen Denton’s bloop double down the left field line, his second double of the game, scored the final two Hawks runs.
Davidson-Browder’s first inning RBI single scored Micah Hoffmeister. Three walks and a passed ball provided the second HVA run before Micah Hoffmeister’s bunt single and RBI made it 3-0.
