Hampton advanced in a thrilling fashion.
The Bulldogs plated four runs in the bottom of the seventh to rally and take a 6-5 walkoff win over Unaka in a District 1-A Elimination game on Thursday night at Joe O’Brien Field in Elizabethton.
With the win, Hampton advanced to Friday’s elimination game against North Greene, while Unaka saw their season come to a heartbreaking close.
Unaka broke onto the board first when Logan Lewis opened the top of the second with a single and worked his around the bases and scored on a passed ball.
That gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead after two innings.
Unaka extended the lead in the third when Jaycob Niddifer hit a single that brought Joe-Z Blamo across the plate, and then Brayden Powell hit a single to push Niddifer across the plate.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the home side of the inning when Chance Point hit a single and scored on a passed ball later in the inning.
After the fourth inning went quietly, Blamo scored in the top of the fifth after Niddifer put the ball in play to increase the UHS lead to 4-1.
Hampton got a run back in the bottom of the frame as Brody Hicks hit a double to left field to bring Point across home plate.
The Rangers added a run in the top of the seventh as Micah Gray scored off a Lewis single.
Hampton, however, kept fighting.
Josh Whitson reached base on an error, and a Point single brought the run home. Jaden Kuhn and Hicks recorded hits to push runs across the plate and tie the game at 5-5.
Hampton Jamie Turbyfil hit a single that pushed the winning run across the plate to keep the Bulldogs’ season alive.
Hicks went 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Point was 2-for-2. Noah Nichols added two hits for Hampton.
Lewis went 2-for-3 to pace the Unaka batters.
Johnny Greenwell struck out 11 batters and allowed two earned runs on three hits in five innings of work for the
Bulldogs, while Landon Ramsey struck out 14 batters and allowed just one earned run on three hits.
