Huntingdon rallies for win in first round of GSAC baseball tournament

LaGRANGE, Ga. – The Huntingdon baseball team rallied from a five-run deficit and edged Maryville 6-5 on Friday in the first round of the Great South Athletic Conference tournament.

The Hawks used a three-run homer from Joseph Odom to make it a one-run game in the seventh inning, an RBI single from Trey Smith to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and an RBI single from Austin White to end the game in the ninth.

"We competed on the mound and at the plate and we were able to pick up a big win today," White said. "All year, when we've needed a big play, someone has come through. Today, several guys came through. We had a couple of big hits in the seventh inning and Grant Brown's double to lead off the ninth inning was big. Hitting is contagious and we were able to come up with some big hits at the end. This was a good team win."

The Hawks (28-11) play Piedmont in the second round of the tournament on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central. Maryville and LaGrange play at 3 p.m. in an elimination game.

In Friday's game, Maryville (19-19) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on three hits and two Huntingdon errors. Entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Maryville led 5-0 and the Hawks had managed just two hits.

"Maryville came out and played well early," Huntingdon baseball coach D.J. Conville said. "They created momentum and we dumped fuel on the fire with the way we played early. We didn't weather the storm well, but we didn't let the game get away. We kept fighting and playing and when we got an opportunity to win, we found a way."

Trailing 5-1 in the seventh, the Hawks got a single from Keegan Lambeth and a double from Brown. With two outs, Odom belted his eighth home run of the season to make it a 5-4 game.

Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Huntingdon led off with a Brown double and a Jordan Green double. Maryville intentionally walked Odom, bringing Trey Smith to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs.

Smith singled up the middle to score Brown and tie the game. Two batters later, White ended the game with a single through the left side to score Trammell DeJarnett.

Huntingdon's first run of the game came as Odom scored on a Jordan Freeman single in the bottom of the sixth.

White, Brown and Freeman each finished with two hits.

Caleb Cofield (4-0) picked up the win in relief.