SHL champion Mustangs bow out of postseason
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — After a near 55-minute rain delay the Huntington Huntsmen and host Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs took part in a rematch from last postseason … and the result was still the same: the Huntsmen are sectional champions, and moving on to district play.
In what turned out to be a soggy day for the Mustangs, turned out to be a sunshiny day of sorts for the Huntsmen, dominating LC, 12-2 in six innings for a run-rule win Friday at LCHS.
The two-time defending SHL Division I champions couldn't bring in runs, as they had 10 hits, stranding eight batters, including five in the final two innings. The Mustangs also committed five errors.
"I think some or most of the guys were ready to go, but overall I just don't think the entire group was ready to play before the rain got here," LC head coach Garyn Waits said. "Then the rain got here, and it just compounded things where we were trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. We just were not focused to play a game today.
"Not to take anything away from Huntington and their guy, he was throwing strikes. The hardest thing to get the guys to understand is it doesn't fall your way every time, but again, Huntington played their tails off."
LC (11-6) scored their runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
In the fourth, Austin Fawley scored on a RBI single hit to right field by Ryan Doss.
The final LC run, who were the No. 3 seed in the Division III SE District Sectional final, came when Fawley rounded the bases on another RBI single, this time hit to right-center field by Doss. On the day, Fawley was 3-for-4 with three doubles. Doss went 3-for-3 with one double.
As for the Huntsmen (12-9), they set the tone early with a lead-off home run by Duane Irvin in the first at-bat of the game. Irvin wrapped up at 3-for-4 with one walk, three runs and three RBIs.
The Huntsmen's bats connected for nine hits, and the ball connected with the Huntington players, as they were hit by a pitch three times in their two-run second inning, and four times total.
HHS, who have won four straight games, added two more runs in the third for a five-run lead. In the fourth, they scored three runs, and in the sixth, they had their second three-run inning for a 10-1 lead.
Besides the three-hit day by Irvin, Jacob Kellough went 3-for-4 with one walk, two RBIs and three runs for HHS.
For LC, Wes Pierson, Joey Butler, Dallas Puckett and Chaz Lanier all had one hit.
The winning pitcher for HHS was Brice Vickers, who pitched 5 1-3 innings. Vickers faced 22 batters, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk, while striking out eight. Irvin closed out the game for Huntington, taking the mound with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.
Doss was charged with the loss. Doss went 3 2-3 innings, with four strikeouts. The senior allowed four hits, two walks and hit four batters. Terry Campbell pitched 3 1-3 innings of relief for LC. Campbell had four strikeouts.
LC has one game remaining when they take on the Peebles Indians (at PHS) next week. The Huntsmen will face Alexander (who defeated Federal Hocking, 4-3) on May 19 at 5 p.m. at the VA Memorial Stadium, in Chillicothe. HHS has two tournament wins, defeating North Adams in the sectional semifinals.
LC had five seniors playing in their last home game in Ryan Doss, Austin Fawley, Colin Creek, Dallas Puckett and Jake Hehl.
"We are young, but losing the five seniors … we are going to have to change up a few things. We are going to have to add to it a little bit," Waits said. "The kids we have coming back, there is potential to grow.
"We have seven juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen coming back who were on the roster tonight. We have a loaded freshman class that played JV this year, and we will have expectations to win the league again next year."
[[In-content Ad]]
In what turned out to be a soggy day for the Mustangs, turned out to be a sunshiny day of sorts for the Huntsmen, dominating LC, 12-2 in six innings for a run-rule win Friday at LCHS.
The two-time defending SHL Division I champions couldn't bring in runs, as they had 10 hits, stranding eight batters, including five in the final two innings. The Mustangs also committed five errors.
"I think some or most of the guys were ready to go, but overall I just don't think the entire group was ready to play before the rain got here," LC head coach Garyn Waits said. "Then the rain got here, and it just compounded things where we were trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. We just were not focused to play a game today.
"Not to take anything away from Huntington and their guy, he was throwing strikes. The hardest thing to get the guys to understand is it doesn't fall your way every time, but again, Huntington played their tails off."
LC (11-6) scored their runs in the fourth and sixth innings.
In the fourth, Austin Fawley scored on a RBI single hit to right field by Ryan Doss.
The final LC run, who were the No. 3 seed in the Division III SE District Sectional final, came when Fawley rounded the bases on another RBI single, this time hit to right-center field by Doss. On the day, Fawley was 3-for-4 with three doubles. Doss went 3-for-3 with one double.
As for the Huntsmen (12-9), they set the tone early with a lead-off home run by Duane Irvin in the first at-bat of the game. Irvin wrapped up at 3-for-4 with one walk, three runs and three RBIs.
The Huntsmen's bats connected for nine hits, and the ball connected with the Huntington players, as they were hit by a pitch three times in their two-run second inning, and four times total.
HHS, who have won four straight games, added two more runs in the third for a five-run lead. In the fourth, they scored three runs, and in the sixth, they had their second three-run inning for a 10-1 lead.
Besides the three-hit day by Irvin, Jacob Kellough went 3-for-4 with one walk, two RBIs and three runs for HHS.
For LC, Wes Pierson, Joey Butler, Dallas Puckett and Chaz Lanier all had one hit.
The winning pitcher for HHS was Brice Vickers, who pitched 5 1-3 innings. Vickers faced 22 batters, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk, while striking out eight. Irvin closed out the game for Huntington, taking the mound with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.
Doss was charged with the loss. Doss went 3 2-3 innings, with four strikeouts. The senior allowed four hits, two walks and hit four batters. Terry Campbell pitched 3 1-3 innings of relief for LC. Campbell had four strikeouts.
LC has one game remaining when they take on the Peebles Indians (at PHS) next week. The Huntsmen will face Alexander (who defeated Federal Hocking, 4-3) on May 19 at 5 p.m. at the VA Memorial Stadium, in Chillicothe. HHS has two tournament wins, defeating North Adams in the sectional semifinals.
LC had five seniors playing in their last home game in Ryan Doss, Austin Fawley, Colin Creek, Dallas Puckett and Jake Hehl.
"We are young, but losing the five seniors … we are going to have to change up a few things. We are going to have to add to it a little bit," Waits said. "The kids we have coming back, there is potential to grow.
"We have seven juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen coming back who were on the roster tonight. We have a loaded freshman class that played JV this year, and we will have expectations to win the league again next year."
[[In-content Ad]]