WEST POINT – Hanceville's bats were silent until the Bulldogs put together a seventh-inning comeback, turning a potential loss to West Point into a thrilling 7-5 come-from-behind victory Friday evening.
Entering the seventh, the Bulldogs were held scoreless and managed four hits against West Point starter Matt McDonald and reliever Kolton Easterwood.
But seeing Easterwood for the second time around, the Bulldogs tallied four consecutive hits against the right hander and moved into the lead. By the time the top of the seventh was done, Hanceville had batted around with a seven-run, seven-hit parade and remained undefeated the first week of the season, improving to 2-0.
West Point led 1-0 in the second when Hunter Persall was hit by a pitch from Gavin Cruce, moved to second and third on wild pitches and scored on a single to right by Cameron Bates.
A run was added to the West Point side of the scoreboard in the fourth as Rylan Jones was safe on an error, moved to second when Cruce was called for a balk and scored on a ground out by McDonald.
The third run for the Warriors crossed home in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Easterwood, scoring Sam Briehn, who led off the frame with a base hit.
The game was moving right along with Hanceville held to five hits after six innings and down to their final three outs.
But the Bulldogs had other things in mind. Josh Loggins and Tate Brown ripped singles off Easterwood, followed by a run-scoring single from Mark Dyer to get the zero off the scoreboard.
Lead-off batter Alex Campbell had the clutch hit, a two-run double to right that tied the game when Dyer was safe at home.
Left hander Blake Diestelow relieved Easterwood and got two quick outs. But Dalton Rice singled in Campbell, Kaine Yates had a single and both scored on a triple to right from Isaac Holmes.
Holmes scampered home when the relay throw was misplayed and Hanceville went to the bottom of the inning on top by the score of 7-3.
Diestelow started the West Point seventh with a walk and was doubled home by Chance Martin. Martin raced home moments later when a grounder to third off the bat of Easterwood sailed over the first baseman's head.
Cruce, still on the mound, shook off his team's third error of the game by getting the next two outs. Levi Allred lined the ball back to him on the mound for the first out, then he made a catch off a pop fly from Noah Allison.
The game ended when Jones' line drive was caught in right field by Holmes with the game being completed in an hour and 47 minutes in front of a large crowd early Friday evening.
Hanceville is 2-0 on the season. The Bulldogs opened the 2017 campaign on Monday with an 8-2 win over J.B. Pennington. West Point fell to 0-2. The Warriors were shut out in their opener 2-0 to Danville Thursday.
Hanceville visits Good Hope Monday while West Point welcomes Vinemont to campus for a Tuesday assignment.
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