Hall scores on wild pitch to top Newman in 13 innings

SPRING VALLEY – Nearly four hours after the game started, Drake Garland raced home on a wild pitch to lift the Hall baseball team to a 4-3 victory over Newman in 13 innings a Three Rivers Conference East Division game.

“It’s a great feeling for the team,” Garland said.

Garland drew a walk to start the bottom of the 13 and advanced to third base on a single by Ashton Pecher before scoring on the wild pitch with one out.

“I got a walk and then Ashton hit an awesome hit down the line against a shift and I got to third,” Garland said. “When I saw the passed ball, I was scoring.

“It was awesome in a long game like tonight. It was a big conference win.”

The Red Devils left the bases loaded in the seventh, eighth and 11th innings, stranded runners on second and third in the 12th, and had Mac Resetich thrown out at home trying to score on a wild pitch to end the 10th.

“We just got lucky,” Hall coach Tom Keegan said about pushing a run across in the 13th. “The way we were swinging, we almost needed a passed ball to push that last one across, but it was an opportune win for us so give the guys credit. There’s a lot of ebb and flow and ups and downs with the emotions of this game, but they stuck with it.”

Both Keegan and Newman coach Kenny Koerner said it was the longest game they’ve coached.

“It was like a sectional final game with the energy between the teams,” Koerner said. “It was fun going back and forth. We have a lot of respect for them.”

Like Hall, the Comets had several chances during extra innings as well.

Grant Koerner led off the 10th with a single and was eventually left stranded on third base, and the Comets left the bases loaded in the 12th.

“We felt good,” coach Koerner said. “We had the right guy up at the right time, and they made some plays. Their catcher is unbelievable. I think he saved four or five runs in the dirt tonight. He’s the best catcher we’ve seen this year. He did a great job.

“We had chances. I was proud of the kids. The bottom of the order where those young guys came up, they gave us chances at the end, so that’s all you can ask for.”

The Red Devils forced extra innings by rallying from a 3-0 deficit.

Hall didn’t get much going against Newman starter Jaesen Johns, managing just one run – on an RBI double by Ethan Plym in the fourth – and three hits while striking out six times in his five innings.

With Johns replaced to start the sixth, the Red Devils got going.

Riley Coble blasted a solo home run to start the inning, and Plym followed with a single before scoring on an RBI groundout by Garland to tie the game.

“Riley got plunked [in the fourth] and Ethan had the big hit,” Keegan said. “Riley with the bomb [in the sixth] obviously helps.”

Newman (7-3, 3-3 TRAC East) built the 3-0 lead with a run in each of the first, third and fourth innings.

Nolan Britt hit an RBI single in the first and drew a bases loaded walk in the third, while Daniel Kelly singled and came in to sore on three wild pitches in the fifth.

“I’m really proud of the kids,” coach Koerner said. “We had three starters out with injuries, and we had two freshmen and a sophomore step up. We knew it’d be tough with Hall. I couldn’t be more proud of how the kids played being short-handed. It was a good effort.”

Coble started on the mound for Hall (11-2, 7-1 TRAC East), allowing three earned runs on five hits with six strikeouts and four walks in 3 1/3 innings.

Pecher, Payton Dye and Dom Galetti combined to pitch 10 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, with Galetti earning the win.

“All the guys we ran out to the mound really competed well,” Keegan said. There were some tough spots and traffic on the bags, and we were able to make some pitches. Petch came in and gave us a hold, which is exactly what we wanted until we knotted it up at 3-3. Payton came in and competed like crazy as well. Dom, who has not had a whole lot of innings, was effective getting outs in the back end of the game.”