The Hampton baseball team picked a great time to set a school record.
The Bulldogs rolled to a 13-2 five-inning victory over Washburn in the Region 1-A Semifinals to advance to the Region 1-A Championship game as well as secure a spot in the Class A Sectionals.
With the win, Hampton set a school record with 24 wins on the year.
“Proud of my young men and coaches,” Hampton Head Coach Nicholas Perkins said. “All postseason wins are meaningful, especially must win games the deeper you advance. We must prepare for a very good team on Wednesday.”
The Bulldogs await the winner of the University High and Hancock County game – which is slated to be played on Tuesday. Hampton will travel to the winner on Wednesday.
Hampton struck early and often on Monday.
Caleb Royston started the scoring as his first-inning single plated Chance Point to give Hampton a 1-0 lead.
After retiring the Pirates in order in the home side of the first, Jonathon Greenwell hit a single to score Conor Jones, and Kyler Lewis pushed Greenwell across the plate to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage after an inning and a half.
Washburn plated a run in the bottom of the second, but Hampton answered in a big way.
Morgan Lyons opened the inning with a triple on a 3-1 count, and scored on the next at bat as Royston put the ball in play.
Collin Morgan hit a single to get on base, and McKinley Kuhn plated the run with a double to right field.
Lewis hit a single to score two runs as Hampton took a 7-1 advantage after three complete.
The Bulldog bats continued to stay hot as the Bulldogs plated three runs in the of the fourth and three more in the fifth to leave no doubt.
Morgan was 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Greenwell added two hits and two RBI.
Lewis finished with three RBI and two hits, while Royston and Kuhn also added two RBI.
In all, Hampton had 13 hits in the game.
Josh Whitson allowed one earned run on two hits with five strikeouts in two innings of work, while
Greenwell’s stat line was nearly identical with one earned run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Morgan retired three straight batters in relief work.
