The Hampton Bulldogs made the long trip over to Northview Academy where they faced the Cougars in the opening round of the Region 1-A baseball tournament.
However, when the ‘Dogs loaded the bus at the end of the night, they were surely all wearing smiles after topping Northview 2-1 to advance to a region championship game at North Greene Wednesday and a state sectional berth.
“It is only the second time in Hampton history that we have made it this far,” said Hampton head coach Matt Hardin. “It means a lot to the boys. They have suffered through a lot of one-run losses. Thay have worked hard, and I am very proud of them.”
On the mound, Hampton senior Wyatt Lyons led the Bulldogs as he tossed 95 pitches over seven innings. Lyons struck out a whopping 17 batters against two walks. The gunslinger would only have four hits against him.
“He was just on tonight,” said Hardin. “After the first innings, he was just lights out. He pitched as good as I have seen.”
The contest went scoreless through the first five innings before Hampton posted a run in the top of the sixth as Gavin Hardin smacked an RBI double to net teammate David Fleenor who had reached on a lead-off walk.
The Cougars, however, answered in the bottom of the six as a runner scored on a fly out tying the contest up 1-1 heading into the seventh.
In the top of the seventh, Hampton’s Fleenor ripped an RBI single to score the game-winning run.