Huntland's Landon Kerr swings at a pitch during a game Thursday against Cornersville High School. Kerr had three hits, two RBIs and three runs scored in the 11-9 win.
Huntland's Landon Kerr swings at a pitch during a game Thursday against Cornersville High School. Kerr had three hits, two RBIs and three runs scored in the 11-9 win.
The Huntland High School Hornets beat the Cornersville Bulldogs 11-9 at home Thursday for their seventh win of the season.
The Hornets saw a five-run lead disappear in the top of the sixth, but they were able to retake the lead in the bottom half of the sixth and held on in the final inning for their third straight victory.
Huntland head baseball coach Brent Davis said his team didn’t play its best game with mistakes being made in the field that allowed Cornersville to tighten the score late.
“We started hitting the ball well, put up several runs and then they kind of just got lackadaisical in the field, and it showed,” he said before referring to the overall positive result for the contest. “It wasn’t how we wanted it, but at the end of the day, it’s still a win.”
Davis later added that his team needs to work on its decision-making skills in the field and on the basepaths going forward.
The Bulldogs scored a pair of runs in the top of the first to jump out to an early lead.
After being held scoreless in the first and second innings, the Hornets broke through for six runs in the bottom of the third to flip the scoreboard and take a 6-2 lead. The scoring plays for the inning included RBI singles from Landon Kerr, Grant Jernigan and Daltyn Howell, a two-run triple from Blaine Counts and an RBI double from Chandler Banks.
The Bulldogs pushed a run across in the top of the fourth to make it a 6-3 game, but an RBI single from Kerr and an RBI groundout from Jernigan scored one run each in the bottom of the fourth to bring the lead up to 8-3.
The teams scored one run each in the fifth inning with an RBI triple from Banks putting the overall score at 9-4 in Huntland’s favor.
However, the Bulldogs capitalized on multiple Huntland errors in the top of the sixth to score five runs in the frame and tie the score at 9-9.
Kerr led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, advanced to second after Matthew Dickson drew a walk and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Jernigan to give the Hornets the lead once more.
Dickson came around to score a few batters later after a pop fly from Counts was dropped by a defender to make it an 11-9 game late.
A two-out walk in the top of the seventh brought the potential tying run up to bat for the Bulldogs, but the next batter grounded into a fielder’s choice for the final out as the Hornets won by two.
Kannon Lafevers pitched one inning for the Hornets with five hits, three walks and two runs allowed.
Jernigan pitched the next four inning in relief with five strikeouts, five hits, one walk and two runs allowed.
Carter Walker recorded one out in relief with one strikeout, four hits, one walk and five runs allowed, and Banks closed out the game with 1 2-3 innings pitched, two strikeouts, one hit, one walk and no runs allowed.
With the win, the Hornets improved to 7-5 on the season.
They will next play Monday at Fayetteville City High School. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
