NUTTER FORT, W.Va. — After falling at Robert C. Byrd, 4-3 on Tuesday in the Class AAA Region II Tournament, Hampshire was left with no margin for error to qualify for the state tournament. The Trojans have forced the double-elimination regional to the limit by avenging their earlier loss to the Flying Eagles, 7-5 on a soggy evening at Frank Loria Memorial Field in the first game of the championship round.
A winner-take-all game is scheduled for Friday for one of the two state tournament spots available from Region II.
“The team has never quit. We’ve had seven or eight losses by one run and maybe two losses by two runs and one by three runs. We’ve had eleven losses and we are in every game,” said Hampshire head coach Ken Maiers. “All we need to do is keep pressure on. Hopefully someone makes a mistake and then we capitalize.”
The Trojans (17-11) never trailed in the contest and they jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a four-hit second inning. Hampshire sent eight batters to the plate in the frame. Zeke McDonald and Brayden Hott both drove in a pair of runs.
“It was extremely huge. The focus of putting the ball in play is very important to us. We don’t have big guys. We are not going to hit the fence. We’re not going to put dents in anything. We have to rely on putting the ball in play and running the bases.”
However, the Flying Eagles (21-10) evened the score with back-to-back two-run innings. Hampshire jumped back in front by scoring a pair of runs in the fifth. The teams traded runs in the sixth.
RCB brought the potential winning run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with two out. However, Mason Slade capped his third inning of relief with a strikeout to end the game. Slade allowed one run on four hits and he struck out three batters.
“The kid is a bulldog. He is a junior and a lot of people are going to know his name next year.”
HHS starting pitcher Mark Richmond allowed four runs on two hits in four innings of work.
Hampshire is scheduled to play their fifth game in as many days in Friday’s decisive contest.
“We’ve got two guys coming back that have high strike percentages. We’re going to make them beat us. They can. But we are going to make them beat us.