HANCEVILLE, Ala. — In the first meeting between Hanceville and Locust Fork, the Hornets won a pitcher’s duel at their place, 2-1, but this time, the game took was at Hanceville and it was a high-scoring, back-and-forth battle that the Bulldogs ended up taking over the Hornets 14-13.
Locust Fork quickly got on the scoreboard first as an RBI single, a sacrifice fly, and another RBI single gave them a quick 3-0 lead. Then the Hornets pushed across two more runs on a pair of Hanceville errors and that made it 5-0. The Bulldogs responded in their half as Les Fischer led off the inning with a single, then a sacrifice bunt and a ground out moved him over to third with two outs. Dylan Twilley got hit by the pitch to keep the inning alive and Jake Cornelius hit an RBI infield single to cut it to 5-1. Another hit by pitch loaded the bases for Jackson Cleveland, who drew a walk to force home Twilley to make it 5-2.
The Hornets added to their lead in the top of the second inning as an RBI single and a two-run single saw them push their lead to 8-2. Back-to-back hit by pitches and a walk loaded the bases with no outs for Hanceville’s Drew Campbell, who drove in Noah Jones with an RBI groundout, and that cut the deficit to five at 8-3. Cornelius made it 8-4 with an RBI single, and Adam Cooper ended up crossing the plate during the throw-in and that cut it to 8-5.
The Bulldogs got a one-out rally going as back-to-back walks got things started for Hanceville. Fischer lined an RBI double to center field to make it 8-6, and a two-run double by Cooper tied the game up at eight. Cooper and Twilley ended up crossing the plate later in the inning as that gave Hanceville a 10-8 lead. But the Hornets got something going in the top of the fifth inning as a two-run double and an RBI groundout saw them get the lead right back at 11-10.
The Bulldogs answered right back in a big way in their half of the fifth. Fischer reached on an infield single to lead off the inning and Cooper crushed the first pitch he saw over the right-center field wall for a two-run home run to give Hanceville a 12-11 lead. They weren’t done yet, though, as Twilley hit a one-out single and Cornelius brought him in with an RBI triple. Gabe Ognilla drove in Cornelius with an RBI infield single that helped push the Bulldog lead to 14-11.
The Hornets made it 14-13 in the top of the sixth inning as they on an RBI single and a passed ball. Ognilla, though, made sure that Locust Fork didn’t get the lead again as he struck out the side on 12 pitches as the Hanceville Bulldogs pick up a huge 14-13 win over the Locust Fork Hornets.
Cooper led the way for Hanceville (3-2) with two hits and four RBIs. Cornelius added three hits and three RBIs. Fischer ended up with three hits and an RBI in the contest. Ognilla finished with a hit and an RBI, while Campbell and Cleveland each chipped in with an RBI as well.
The Bulldogs will stay at home Monday to face off against Vinemont.
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