Hawks Survive Long Day at Ballpark to Advance

By Rob Gantt
Special to The HSSR  
HANAHAN - Gratification delayed is certainly better than gratification denied.


The Hanahan Hawks baseball team needed a second game May 11 to finally put away Aynor High School, 10-6, for the district championship in the Class 3A playoffs at HHS.

Following Aynor's 6-3 victory in game one that forced a decisive clash, Hanahan came out hot in game two. The Hawks erupted for five runs in the bottom of the first, then added a single run in the second inning and added four more in the bottom of the third inning to seize control.

"It's been a long day for sure," Hanahan coach Skylar Hunter said. "I've been out here since 8 a.m., doing field work the whole time. And we lose game one, and really lose it in a way where we gave them a bunch of free passes. They didn't find a lot of barrels. We gave them a bunch of runs from errors, passed balls and walks."

In game two, the Hawks came out and swung the bats like they were supposed to, Hunter said.
"I'm just proud of them for competing," he said.

Hanahan (16-14) loaded the bases in its first at-bat and infielder Richard Atencio delivered a two-run single to right field to open the scoring. Outfielder Tripp Gallus, who reached on a bunt single earlier, scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Hanahan pitcher Chris Polm kept the uprising going and helped himself with a two-run home run through the wind to left field as the lead grew to 5-0.

That was plenty of run support for Polm, who earned the win on the mound. The hard-throwing righty hurled three one-hit innings with seven strikeouts. He only threw 59 pitches so he is available to pitch Thursday at Dillon if the Hawks opt to use their ace.

In the second inning, Atencio's bases-loaded walk gave the Hawks a 6-0 lead. In the third, RBI singles off the bats off Brendan Moll and Gallus, and a two-run double from Will Muirheid made it 10-0.

"It's easy for young teams to fold and they didn't fold at all," Hunter said. "They kept working, kept fighting, kept grinding and got the job done."

Aynor (21-7) continued to battle, though, and refused to go away. The Blue Jackets plated four runs in the top of the fifth inning to avoid being mercy ruled, then tallied single runs in the sixth and seventh innings.

"I want to make sure I give props to Aynor," Hunter said. "They're a very good team and very well-coached. They're a tough matchup for us every time we play them."

Gallus, Atencio, Muirheid and Moll collected two hits each for the Hawks.

Outfielder Layton Suggs and infielder Brady Lavin led Aynor with two hits in game two and third baseman Heath Huggins knocked in two runs.

In game one, designated hitter Nolyn Nickels,Gallus and Atencio had two hits for the Hawks. Atencio drove in two runs. 

Outfielder Xavier Dukes powered Aynor, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI. Suggs and Lavin chipped in two hits.