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White’s walkoff slam lifts Herbert Hoover

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Despite trailing the entire game, Herbert Hoover attacked its final at-bat with the confidence of a team convinced its season wasn’t finished.

And survive the Huskies did.

Down by a run against Independence, Corey Bird’s double pulled Hoover even and Hunter White’s walkoff grand slam provided the fantastic finish to a 7-3 victory in the Class AA semifinal at Appalachian Power Park.

The seventh-inning rally carried Hoover (30-4) into Saturday’s championship game against Fairmont (28-6).

“I don’t know what I hit, really. I was just hoping to hit a pop fly and get the run in.” — Hunter White on his grand slam

“When you know it’s win-or-go-home it’s always tough, but our kids stayed in the ballgame and didn’t put pressure on themselves,” said Huskies coach Brian Young. “Our kids stayed confident, and they knew they had a chance to win the ballgame in the seventh inning.”

Independence (19-9) was just three outs away from a major upset, but the Patriots never recorded an out in the decisive inning.

After an infield error allowed Sean Craze to reach, No. 9 hitter Sean Dotsun beat out a perfect push bunt toward the first-base side. That brought up Bird, the team’s offensive catalyst whose batting average hovered around .500 all season. He watched a tantalizingly close 1-2 curveball before lashing the next pitch for a double past the third-base bag, scoring Craze with the tying run and bringing Dotsun around to third.

After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Independence starter Kevin Sexton fired an 0-1 fastball that White yanked over the left-field wall for his first homer of the season.

“I guess it was a fastball, but I don’t know what I hit, really,” said White, who didn’t realize the ball left the park until he neared second base and saw teammates celebrating. “I was just hoping to hit a pop fly and get the run in.”

Sexton had allowed one earned run on five hits through the first six innings. Though he struck out only one, the junior right-hander kept one of the state’s top offenses at bay — at least until the end.

“I thought we had it,” Sexton said. “But then, well, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.”

Said Independence coach Scottie Cuthbert on his decision to stick with his ace as the seventh inning unraveled: “He battled through some tough spots, but we just got into one more jam we couldn’t get out of. They’ve got the bases load with the No. 3 hitter up, so the odds weren’t in our favor right there.”

While Cuthbert chose to ride Sexton to the finish, Hoover ace Tristan Fields lasted only five batters and 12 pitches — crumpling in front of the mound after being struck on the shin by James Huffman’s first-inning liner. The ball ricocheted into right field, scoring Wyatt Akins who moments before had doubled home Independence’s first run.

“The whole right side of my body was in pain, and when I hit the ground my leg really started throbbing,” said Fields, who had to be helped off the field by coaches.

The injury looked and sounded scary, leaving Fields unable to put much weight on the leg. Once inside the dugout, however, the trainer established the leg wasn’t broken and Fields said, “I knew I was coming back in the game.”

He later re-entered to play third base and had a line-drive single in the fourth. That didn’t lead to any runs, but Hoover broke through with a two-run fifth to cut the deficit to 3-2.

“The whole right side of my body was in pain, and when I hit the ground my leg really started throbbing.” — Herbert Hoover starter Tristan Fields, struck by a liner in the first inning

Cody Bowen (7-1), meanwhile, replaced Fields on the mound and hurled 6 1/3 innings of one-run relief. Originally slated to start the championship game, Bowen fanned six, walked none and limited the Patriots to three hits, keeping Hoover in position for a climactic comeback.

“It shows we don’t give up,” said Fields, whose arm should be fresh for Saturday’s finale, even if his leg is sore.

Bird, the Marshall commitment, stole his 54th base of the season in the first inning for Hoover and matched Dotsun with a team-high two hits.

Sexton had two of the six hits for Independence, which anticipates returning every starter next season except for senior second baseman Drew Dangelo.

As Hoover players posed for pictures on the infield, Sexton packed up his bat bag in the Independence dugout — his jersey untucked, his mind shifting toward 2014: “We’ll come back next year and hope we get it.”





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