Hornets win walk-off thriller
Published 12:47 am Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Dallas County’s Kevin Simmons slides to safety at first base as a Jemison player attempts to tag him out. The Hornets defeated Jemison in eight innings on Tuesday. -- Robert Hudson
PLANTERSVILLE — A line drive to right center field by Blanton Strickland with bases loaded drove in the game-winning run, as the Dallas County Hornets defeated the Jemison Panthers 4-3 in extra innings.
Willie Moore, head baseball coach of Dallas County (23-8, 4-2), said his team fought through adversity that saw them in a similar situation from a week ago against another area opponent
“We were in this situation last week against Bibb (County) where we had two strikes, two outs. They got a hit to score a run and tie it up in the top of the seventh and I was thinking here we go again,” Moore said. “I turned to my guys and said ‘we’ve got five seniors coming up (to bat) in a row in a tie ball game. We’ve got a chance to win it because you’ve earned that right.’ They loaded the bases, Blanton came through with a clutch hit, and that was the ball game.”
The Hornets held a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh inning, but Jemison tied the game when Trey Smith tripled and drove in Jacob Hatch.
The Hornets pushed closer to victory in the bottom of the eighth, when Kevin Simmons led off with a single, and then went on to steal second base.
The Panthers allowed another hit, and then opted to walk Ethan Fancher and load the bases.
Strickland came up to the plate and delivered the hit that drove in Simmons for the victory.
The Hornets had trailed early in the game when Jemison took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but Dallas County responded when Simmons doubled and drove in D.J. Stiles to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning, creating some momentum in the process.
Dallas County took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Fancher stole home.
Jemison countered when Austin Chatman hit an infield single that allowed a runner to score from second base and made it a 2-2 game in the top of the fifth inning.
But the Hornets answered in the bottom of the fifth when Justin Moreland got an infield single that allowed Simmons to score from second and gave the Hornets a 3-2 lead.
Dallas County will take the field again Friday at home against Billingsley starting at 4 p.m.
