Hawks advance with extra-inning victory over Goochland

GOOCHLAND — Gretna took advantage of a complete game performance by all district pitcher Cory Owen to capture an 8-7 extra inning victory over Goochland in the first round of the Region B playoffs.

“He’s our ace on the mound,” coach Calvin Takata said following the win. “He’s won a lot of games for us. We’ll either live or die with him,” he added.

Gretna had its chances early in the game, but couldn’t capitalize. In the first inning, lead off batter Michael Mayhew doubled followed by two walks to load the bases, but a double play ended the inning with no one crossing the plate.

“I thought we should have taken advantage of that first inning, but it didn’t work out,” Takata said.

Third baseman Ben Verlander scored the Bulldogs first run in the bottom of the first with a single, a stolen base and a trip home when starting pitcher Alec Moore drove him in from third.

Coleman Osborne singled for the Hawks in the second, and scored on a base hit by Jonathan Pinguilley, knotting the score at one.

Goochland went up 3-1 in the bottom of the second, but the Hawks answered with a big third inning.

With the bases loaded, Tyler Lecik lofted a shot to center that eluded Bulldog defender Tyler Carter and three runs scored. The Hawks took their first lead 4-3.

The Bulldogs answered with three in the bottom of the third, and Gretna found itself down 6-4 after three complete.

The Hawks loaded the bases again with one out in the top of the fifth, and Brandon Meadows scored when Lecik sac flied to bring Gretna within one. Bronson Cocke scored on an RBI by Reese Wilmoth and the score was tied 6-6.

Gretna secured the win with two runs in the top of the eighth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Bulldog reliever Verlander walked Owen and Pinguilley scored. Gretna got an insurance run when Brandon Cocke was hit by a pitch, making the score 8-6.

Goochland answered with one run in the bottom of the inning but couldn’t move the tying run across the plate, and the Hawks lived to play another day — Wednesday to be more specific.

The Bulldogs end their season with a 15-7 mark. Takata was happy to get out of town with the victory and start preparing for Wednesday. “I thought we had a good ball game tonight. We made a few mistakes, so hopefully, we can work those out for the next game, but overall, I thought we played well.”

Gretna-  8 7 5

Goochland- 7 8 4