Walk-off revenge for Ads vs Hawks in dramatic finish
“Classic” might be overused to describe ballgames, but it’s hard not to apply it to Hardin Valley Academy’s baseball game versus Farragut on FHS’s John Heatherly Field Monday, April 7.
With no outs in the bottom of the eighth, first baseman Travis Brummitt Jr. hit a fly ball to center field. It was deep enough to score pinch runner Eli Tittle from third, giving the Admirals a wild, come-from-behind 10-9 win.
The District 4-4A victory improved FHS’s record to 5-1 in district — avenging a 3-2 loss at HVA early in the season — 15-6 overall. The Hawks fell to the same 15-6 overall record, 4-1 in 4-4A.
Twice FHS trailed by multiple runs, 6-1 after the top of the fourth inning and 8-5 midway through the sixth. Five errors in the game contributed to the deficits.
The Admirals grabbed a 9-8 lead going into the seventh, but Hardin Valley rallied to force extra innings.
“We put ourselves in a bad situation, made a few mistakes,” Admirals skipper Garrett Copeland said. “Early in the game we can’t get down on ourselves. We gotta be able to work at it and chip away. Eventually it turned our way.”
Aaron Simmons, Hawks head coach, said “both sides were competitive. Farragut came ready to swing tonight, so did we. Both sides competed like it was the World Series, and that’s what it’s all about.”
With the score tied 1-1, HVA plated five in the top of the fourth to lead 6-1. Two walks and a wild pitch were partly responsible. But the Admirals cut it to 6-4 in the same frame — thanks to four hits and a sac fly — then made it 6-5 in the fifth.
HVA built the lead to 8-5 in the sixth, and appeared to be in command. Neels Schoonbee walked, stole second, then scored when Cameron Dillon’s bunt resulted in an error at first. Mason Shelton’s single then scored Dillon.
Back stormed the Admirals in the bottom of the sixth with four runs to lead 9-8. Jake Harris connected for an RBI single, as did Braxton Tye and Jackson Zeller.
But the Hawks tied it at 9 in the seventh when Caleb Van Lant doubled, then scored when an attempt to cut him down at third was thrown into the outfield.
Then came the winning sac fly. “(The win) shows we have some fight in us,” said Brummitt, who earned Copeland’s praise after producing three of the five FHS hits in a 4-1 home loss to Dobyns-Bennett Friday, April 4. “Our errors, I don’t think their early runs were deserved that much. We out-hit them by nine (16-7). I think we deserved to win by way more.”
“We gotta stay in the center of the field and stay in the strike zone; (if so) I think we’ll have success,” Copeland said. “We still didn’t play that great, still had five errors. We did a good job of keeping at it. It’s always a good win — they’re a tough team, tough district opponent.”
