BUFORD -- North Hall got the timely hitting, turned two double plays on defense, and got seven innings from starter Josh Hammond. It was everything coach Trent Mongero said the Trojans needed to have a chance to knock off No. 1 Buford Wednesday at McQuaig Field.
It still wasn’t enough.
Buford’s Brandon Marsh drove in Ian Jenkins on a bad-hop single at second base off North Hall reliever Aaron Miles with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to complete a 3-2, come-from-behind win for the Wolves in a key Region 8-AAAA contest
“You hate to see a great game like this end that way but that’s baseball,” Buford coach Tony Wolfe said. “It was exactly the kind of game we expected. Coach Mongero always has his guys ready to play and it was a dogfight the whole way.”
The two teams will battle again on Friday at Jody Davis Field in Gainesville. Buford (15-2, 7-0 Region 8-AAAA) can almost put a stranglehold on the region with a win. The Trojans (11-5, 6-3) sit two games behind the Wolves in second place but Buford has two games in hand.
Marsh’s hit was his third of the day and helped erase a bad memory of his hitting into a double play with the bases loaded to end the fourth inning. He drove in two runs and scored another.
“It was a little lucky there with the bounce but we’ll take it,” Marsh said. “I felt like I let the team down when I hit into the (DP) so it felt good to make up for that.”
Mongero said there was little margin for error for any team that plays the Wolves with the high-caliber pitching staff they employ. The Trojans were able to avoid the little mistakes until the seventh.
He opted to bring Hammond back out for the seventh inning and the senior right-hander got Buford down to its final out. But Marsh, who singled to lead off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, advanced to third on a fly to center by Nick Wilhite and then scored on a wild pitch by Hammond to tie the game.
“I am extremely proud of the effort Josh put in out there. He battled them tough and if not for the ball sliding just out reach of the catcher we probably win the game,” Mongero said. “But there just isn’t any room for errors against them. We made two and that was the difference.’
Jake Higginbotham started for Buford and went seven innings scattering four hits and five walks while striking out nine and allowed his first two earned runs of the season. But North Hall left nine runners on base in the first seven innings.
Hammond went seven yielding 10 hits but walked just three and fanned three while giving up just two runs. He and the Trojans defense stranded nine Buford runners.
“We got a couple of timely hits to get our runs but we left some guys out there,” Mongero said. “You have to take advantage of anything they give you. Hopefully we can correct a few things and come back on Friday and even the series.”
After Higginbotham got North Hall 1-2-3 in the top of the first the Wolves had a chance to strike first getting runners to second and third on a double by Joey Bart and an infield single and stolen base by Nick Wilhite with two outs. But Hammond struck out Jolliff to get out of the jam.
The Trojans took advantage in the second inning. Higginbotham walked Miles and hit Fowler Brooks with one out. After a strikeout of Hammond, Drew Coker lined a soft liner into left scoring courtesy runner Dylan Lavender for a 1-0 lead. It marked the first earned run allowed by Higginbotham on the season.
Buford answered right back with a run in the bottom of the second. With one out, Jenkins singled, Keyton Gibson walked, and Dylan Lancaster singled to load the bases for the top of the order. Marsh followed with a RBI single to left but Hammond was able to get out the jam inducing a double play by Austin Wilhite to keep the game tied at 1-1.
North Hall got two more runners on in the third on another hit batter and a single by Lincoln Hewett. But Higginbotham fanned both Corbin Lewallen and Miles to end the inning. The Trojans stranded two more runners in the fourth leaving six on base through the first four innings.
The Wolves again looked poised to break it open in the bottom of the fourth. They loaded the bases on consecutive hits by Caleb Moore, Jenkins, and Gibson with no one out. But Lancaster hit into a fielder’s choice at the plate and then the Trojans turned their second double play of the game on a grounder to second by Marsh to end the inning with no runs scoring.
Both pitchers worked out of minor jams in the fifth and Higginbotham retired the Trojans in order in the sixth for the first time since the first inning. Hammond fanned Lancaster to end the sixth after plunking Gibson with two outs to get out of the inning and send the game to the seventh inning still tied at 1-1.
Buford displayed some defense of its own in the seventh. After walking Strickland with one out, Nick Wilhite snared a wide Bart throw and tagged Strickland on the foot trying to steal second. It would prove to be a big out.
North Hall responded as Hewett walked after being down to his final strike and then Lewallen ripped a two-strike double to center scoring Hewett for a 2-1 lead.
That would be all for both starters.
Connor Bennett pitched a perfect and dominant eighth inning for the Wolves striking out two of the three batters he faced to set up the comeback for the Wolves and get the win.
