RICHMOND, Ind. – Hagerstown’s Trey Kelley led his team to a 13-5 win over Lincoln on Friday in the semifinal round of the Class 1A Sectional at McBride Stadium.
“I’m really excited,” Kelley said the opportunity to play for a sectional crown. “We’re going to give it our best and hope to come out with a victory.”
The Tigers (19-4) advance to the title affair to face Seton (17-11), which is scheduled for Monday at noon. Seton defeated Tri 11-3 in Friday’s other semifinal.
“We’re going to have to do what we’ve done all year,” Hagerstown Head Coach Brad Catey said. “Play good defense and get the big hits when you need to and play Hagerstown baseball and we’ll be OK.”
Lincoln began Friday’s contest by scoring four times in the top of the first as Hunter Wilhite and Holden Russell produced two-run doubles off Kelley.
“We started out really well,” Lincoln Head Coach Tom Gable said. “We tried to take some pitches first and then we got a couple of big hits and got a lead.”
“I was just worried about our depth in pitching,” Gable continued. “We knew we were going to have to score more runs.”
The Tigers started the road back in the first as Dylan Woolard knocked in a run with a single.
“We got down early,” Catey said. “They were really aggressive in that first inning and got on Trey, but our team never panicked.”
“These guys just don’t ever worry about it,” Catey added. “They know they are going to work their way back.”
It was a defensive play in the top of the second by Brandon Purtha the ignited the Tigers on offense as the second baseman grabbed a foul ball behind first for the final out.
“That was huge,” Kelley said. “It was awesome.”
Kelley responded by blasting a two-run homer to left to make it 4-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Hagerstown eventually took 7-4 lead in the third as the Tigers scored four runs.
Drew Pyle had a RBI single to tie the contest before Cody Wilson put the Tigers on top with a sacrifice fly. Kelley doubled home the final two runs of the frame on a long drive to center.
The Golden Eagles put their final tally on the board in the fifth as Owen Rhea slapped an opposite field RBI single to left.
“We had a few chances,” Gable said. “We had runners on and couldn’t come up with a hit.”
The Tigers added four runs in the bottom of the fifth with Woolard’s single that knocked in a pair highlighting the inning. Woolard picked up another RBI with a double in the two-run sixth.
Kelley went the distance on the mound giving up seven hits, but only four after the opening frame.
“I let the game get the best of me in the first inning,” he said. “I finally settled down and started hitting my spots.”
The Hagerstown right-hander finished with 10 strikeouts.
“He had a little nerves,” Catey said. “It was the first time pitching in a big game like this.”
“He kind of felt a little pressure and had a little jitters early, but he got them out,” Catey said.
Wilhite got the loss for Lincoln (10-12) as he worked until there was one out in the third.