A pair of late runs, including a walk-off sacrifice fly in the eighth inning on Monday, gave Hurricane a 2-1 victory over Cabell Midland at GoMart Ballpark in the second Mountain State Athletic Conference semifinal.
Griffin Dempsey’s fly ball to center off Knights pitcher Landon Nida scored Aiden Ocheltree to put Hurricane into the MSAC championship game against George Washington on Tuesday. GW beat Spring Valley 4-0 in the earlier semifinal Monday.
That game will also be played at GoMart Ballpark.
“I was happy with the fight and the resiliency,” Hurricane coach Brian Sutphin said. “It was nice to see them find a way.”
For Cabell Midland coach Tracy Brumfield, it was a game he thought his team should have won but gave away with three errors. Two of those in the sixth and eighth allowed Hurricane to tie the game then win it.
“Should have been a 1-0 game, us,” Brumfield said. “That was our ball game to win.”
Ethan Eaves delivered an RBI single in the first inning off Hurricane pitcher Brodee Lucas that scored Ethan Hatcher to give Cabell Midland a 1-0 lead.
The Knights had an opportunity to add more in the second when Owen Maynard singled, Braeden Armstead walked and Hatcher was hit by a pitch, yet Hurricane got out of the inning without falling behind any further.
Sutphin put Wyatt Gautier on the mound in the third inning. Midland (18-3) got two hits and two walks over the remaining six innings.
Armstead, meanwhile, kept Hurricane’s bats silent as well, allowing five hits over six innings. Landon Nida pitched an inning and two-thirds, allowing two hits.
“I thought Wyatt came in and was excellent,” Sutphin. “He competed and attacked and it’s nice to see that.”
Leading 1-0 in the sixth inning, the Knights’ defense began to break down. Brady Rigney advanced to third on a two-out single by Nick Fleece.
A throw to third from the outfield trying to get Rigney at third allowed Fleece to move up to second. The throw to second sailed into center field and allowed Rigney to come home with the tying run.
Ocheltree led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and stole second. He was nearly caught in a rundown when Braylan Hutchison took off for first on a dropped third strike.
Knights catcher Eli McGinnis’ throw to catch Ocheltree sailed into center, moving the tying run to third with one out.
Midland’s Brylon Wing fielded Dempsey’s fly ball and his throw to the plate was just behind the runner.
“We had a sophomore in centerfield,” Brumfield said of Wing. “It had to be a perfect throw, and it was almost there.”
Dempsey had the only RBI for Hurricane (18-3).
CABELL MIDLAND 100 000 00 — 1 4 3
HURRICANE 000 001 01 — 2 7 1
Armstead, Nida (7) and McGinnis; Lucas, Gautier (3) and Dempsey.
