Gigantic 2nd inning sends Hillsboro past FAC co-champ Washington for sectional title
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WASHINGTON C.H. — The third time was the charm for the Hillsboro Indians in their trio of games against the co-Frontier Athletic Conference champion Washington Blue Lions on Thursday night in the Division II Sectional Finals.
In what was the third game between the two teams this year, the No. 2 seeded Blue Lions had the upper hand in the first two meetings during the regular season by scores of 1-0 and 9-4. That wasn’t the case when the season was on the line for the Tribe in Washington C.H.
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Hillsboro (13-11) might have even been staggering following a first inning where they were retired in order by the host Blue Lions, but they regained their senses, reared back and delivered nothing short of a knockout punch in the second inning by sending 16 batters to the plate. In sending those batters to the plate, the Tribe scored 12 runs on 10 hits and took advantage of three costly infield errors to eventually win the game in five innings by a 14-4 score for their first sectional title since 2014.
In winning the sectional championship, the No. 7 seeded Indians also move on to the Division II District Semifinals, where they will face the No. 6 seeded Gallia Academy on Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m. in Athens. Gallia Academy defeated No. 3 seeded Marietta, 5-4 in nine innings.
Hillsboro finished their sectional final game with 14 runs, 14 hits and no errors committed, but the Blue Lions totaled their four runs and along with that had eight hits and committed five errors, including three in the second inning.
Of the 14 hits by the Indians, Mason Stanley, Payton Bell, Ethan Watson and Hayden Haines all went 2-for-4, and Dylan Boone was 2-for-3. In fact, each Hillsboro player in the starting nine had at least one hit.
“We talk a lot in practice about hitting, how in the early season when you are in the gym because of the weather and you can’t get outside, there are a few things we can do that directly translate to the field. One is swing the bat, and two is throw off the mound,” Hillsboro head coach Matt Garman said. “I think you saw both of them tonight. We were a really confident hitting team, and we feel like anytime we can explode for a big inning — a 12-run inning is something else entirely — but we have a lot of confidence with the bats and we came to hit the ball in that inning.
“We had three extra-base hits in (the second inning), and the other thing is pitching. We had a great game pitched by Ethan Humphries tonight. When you put those two things together, good things can happen.”
Ethan Humphries was the winning pitcher for Hillsboro, pitching all five innings. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits and three walks, while striking out four batters.
Following the first inning where the Indians trailed by a 1-0 score, the game got very interesting, even as the Indians began the second with a lead-off ground out to the shortstop, giving them their first four batters retired. From that point on, the Indians’ bats exceeded the 80-degree temperatures and were red-hot, plus the Blue Lions lent a hand with three consecutive infield errors to allow the Indians to take advantage of the opportunity given to them.
Having one out against them, Jared Thompson reached first on an error at first base, followed by Luke Magulac also taking first on an infield error at second base. Haines kept the inning going by taking first base on an error by the shortstop, allowing Thompson to score a run, tying the score at 1-1.
Next was Boone with a single to the shortstop, batting in Magulac, and then he stole second base. Justin Scott equaled the feat with a base hit to right field, batting in Haines, and with a line drive single to right field, Stanley plated Boone, while Scott scored on the throw home for a 5-1 Hillsboro lead.
Bell followed with a base hit to right field, as Stanley scored and Anderson singled past the infield. Watson tripled to centerfield, scoring both Bell and Anderson, while Thompson singled in his second trip to the plate in the inning, knocking in Watson. Magulac followed with a triple to right field, scoring Thompson. Then, for the third time in the second inning Hillsboro had a triple, this time off the bat of Haines, plating Magulac.
The inning continued with one out as Boone lifted the ball to centerfield for a single, scoring Haines, making it a 12-1 lead in favor of the visiting team.
“The score doesn’t indicate how good of a team (Washington) is, and when you put two good teams together it comes down to execution,” Garman said. “Fortunately, tonight we executed and they struggled a little defensively, and that was the difference of the game. They (Washington) are a good team and will be a good team next year, and we’ll have to fight with them as always in the league. It just came down that we made more plays tonight.”
Hillsboro added one run in the third as Bell opened the inning with a base hit to centerfield but was called out during the next sequence as Anderson reached safely on a fielder’s choice. Anderson eventually scored on a two-out balk as he was standing at third base.
Washington added one run in the bottom of the third with a three-hit inning, scoring the run with one out, but in the top of the fourth the Indians scored their final run with Haines — who singled to left field to lead off the inning — scoring a run off a two-out base hit past third base by Stanley.
The Blue Lions scored one run in each of the the final two innings as the Indians held on for the 10-run rule win after five complete innings.
In their first tournament game on Monday, Hillsboro defeated New Lexington by a 5-3 score in the sectional semifinals.
Garman was pleased with his team gaining their first sectional title since the aforementioned 2014 season, especially for his seniors (Phillip Mycroft, Anderson, Scott, Stanley and Bell), as he coached them during their freshman and sophomore years at the JV level.
“This senior group is pretty special to me because my first two years at Hillsboro, I spent a lot of time with them with the JV team, and as they bumped up to varsity I kind of bumped up with them,” Garman said. “They are a real special crew to me. I’m really happy to see those guys experience some success in the postseason, especially after the start we had this season, to be 6-11 with about two weeks to go in the season. To see them rattle off seven in a row, it has been a fun couple weeks.”
At the end of the game, the Indians didn’t know who they would be facing, but Garman said it wasn’t about who they would be facing, but which team shows up in the district round.
“We talk to the guys a lot about it isn’t about which team you will play, but about which team shows up,” he said. “If our team comes ready to go, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side. We are going to be really tough to beat, and that is always the goal.”
In what was the third game between the two teams this year, the No. 2 seeded Blue Lions had the upper hand in the first two meetings during the regular season by scores of 1-0 and 9-4. That wasn’t the case when the season was on the line for the Tribe in Washington C.H.
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Hillsboro (13-11) might have even been staggering following a first inning where they were retired in order by the host Blue Lions, but they regained their senses, reared back and delivered nothing short of a knockout punch in the second inning by sending 16 batters to the plate. In sending those batters to the plate, the Tribe scored 12 runs on 10 hits and took advantage of three costly infield errors to eventually win the game in five innings by a 14-4 score for their first sectional title since 2014.
In winning the sectional championship, the No. 7 seeded Indians also move on to the Division II District Semifinals, where they will face the No. 6 seeded Gallia Academy on Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m. in Athens. Gallia Academy defeated No. 3 seeded Marietta, 5-4 in nine innings.
Hillsboro finished their sectional final game with 14 runs, 14 hits and no errors committed, but the Blue Lions totaled their four runs and along with that had eight hits and committed five errors, including three in the second inning.
Of the 14 hits by the Indians, Mason Stanley, Payton Bell, Ethan Watson and Hayden Haines all went 2-for-4, and Dylan Boone was 2-for-3. In fact, each Hillsboro player in the starting nine had at least one hit.
“We talk a lot in practice about hitting, how in the early season when you are in the gym because of the weather and you can’t get outside, there are a few things we can do that directly translate to the field. One is swing the bat, and two is throw off the mound,” Hillsboro head coach Matt Garman said. “I think you saw both of them tonight. We were a really confident hitting team, and we feel like anytime we can explode for a big inning — a 12-run inning is something else entirely — but we have a lot of confidence with the bats and we came to hit the ball in that inning.
“We had three extra-base hits in (the second inning), and the other thing is pitching. We had a great game pitched by Ethan Humphries tonight. When you put those two things together, good things can happen.”
Ethan Humphries was the winning pitcher for Hillsboro, pitching all five innings. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits and three walks, while striking out four batters.
Following the first inning where the Indians trailed by a 1-0 score, the game got very interesting, even as the Indians began the second with a lead-off ground out to the shortstop, giving them their first four batters retired. From that point on, the Indians’ bats exceeded the 80-degree temperatures and were red-hot, plus the Blue Lions lent a hand with three consecutive infield errors to allow the Indians to take advantage of the opportunity given to them.
Having one out against them, Jared Thompson reached first on an error at first base, followed by Luke Magulac also taking first on an infield error at second base. Haines kept the inning going by taking first base on an error by the shortstop, allowing Thompson to score a run, tying the score at 1-1.
Next was Boone with a single to the shortstop, batting in Magulac, and then he stole second base. Justin Scott equaled the feat with a base hit to right field, batting in Haines, and with a line drive single to right field, Stanley plated Boone, while Scott scored on the throw home for a 5-1 Hillsboro lead.
Bell followed with a base hit to right field, as Stanley scored and Anderson singled past the infield. Watson tripled to centerfield, scoring both Bell and Anderson, while Thompson singled in his second trip to the plate in the inning, knocking in Watson. Magulac followed with a triple to right field, scoring Thompson. Then, for the third time in the second inning Hillsboro had a triple, this time off the bat of Haines, plating Magulac.
The inning continued with one out as Boone lifted the ball to centerfield for a single, scoring Haines, making it a 12-1 lead in favor of the visiting team.
“The score doesn’t indicate how good of a team (Washington) is, and when you put two good teams together it comes down to execution,” Garman said. “Fortunately, tonight we executed and they struggled a little defensively, and that was the difference of the game. They (Washington) are a good team and will be a good team next year, and we’ll have to fight with them as always in the league. It just came down that we made more plays tonight.”
Hillsboro added one run in the third as Bell opened the inning with a base hit to centerfield but was called out during the next sequence as Anderson reached safely on a fielder’s choice. Anderson eventually scored on a two-out balk as he was standing at third base.
Washington added one run in the bottom of the third with a three-hit inning, scoring the run with one out, but in the top of the fourth the Indians scored their final run with Haines — who singled to left field to lead off the inning — scoring a run off a two-out base hit past third base by Stanley.
The Blue Lions scored one run in each of the the final two innings as the Indians held on for the 10-run rule win after five complete innings.
In their first tournament game on Monday, Hillsboro defeated New Lexington by a 5-3 score in the sectional semifinals.
Garman was pleased with his team gaining their first sectional title since the aforementioned 2014 season, especially for his seniors (Phillip Mycroft, Anderson, Scott, Stanley and Bell), as he coached them during their freshman and sophomore years at the JV level.
“This senior group is pretty special to me because my first two years at Hillsboro, I spent a lot of time with them with the JV team, and as they bumped up to varsity I kind of bumped up with them,” Garman said. “They are a real special crew to me. I’m really happy to see those guys experience some success in the postseason, especially after the start we had this season, to be 6-11 with about two weeks to go in the season. To see them rattle off seven in a row, it has been a fun couple weeks.”
At the end of the game, the Indians didn’t know who they would be facing, but Garman said it wasn’t about who they would be facing, but which team shows up in the district round.
“We talk to the guys a lot about it isn’t about which team you will play, but about which team shows up,” he said. “If our team comes ready to go, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side. We are going to be really tough to beat, and that is always the goal.”