HobbsDailyReport.com
MORGANTON – Fred T. Foard High’s baseball team literally squeezed past Hickory on Saturday afternoon, scoring the winning run via a squeeze bunt to capture the Northwestern 3A-4A tournament championship.
Tournament MVP Mathew Greenwood bunted on a squeeze play with one out in the eighth inning, scoring Josh McKinney, to give Foard a 4-3 victory and the title.
Top-seeded Foard (17-5) beat third-seeded Hickory (18-9) for the third time this season (all three of the games were decided by one run).
The Red Tornadoes had won eight straight games coming into Saturday’s final at Patton High.
McKinney walked to start the eighth inning, moved up a base on Austin Houser’s sacrifice bunt and gained third on a passed ball by Hickory catcher Bryce Stober, setting up the finish.
Joel Gosda and Greenwood each had two hits to lead Foard, and Baylor Pait had three hits for Hickory and drove in three runs and Stober had two hits.
The Red Tornadoes had a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning, when the Tigers had the bases loaded with no outs but didn’t score when Hickory starter Andrew Sellers got three quick outs on infield pop-ups, two in foul territory.
Hickory led 3-2 through five innings and had a runner at third base with no outs in the sixth but that runner was stranded when Foard pitcher Caleb Lutjens got two groundouts and a strikeout to close the inning.
With Houser pitching in relief for the Tigers in the seventh inning, Hickory had a shot at widening its lead but didn’t. Jim Gniadek led off the inning by tripling before Houser got three strikeouts to keep the Red Tornadoes’ lead at 3-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Tigers scored for a 3-all tie. Trent Moseley singled and stole second, gaining the base on a play where Hickory had called for a pitchout. Stober’s throw was on the mark but Jack Colosimo, a courtesy runner, kicked the ball out of the glove of HHS shortstop Pierson Hanvey. Gosda’s double then scored the tying run.
Houser faced eight batters and picked up the pitching win. He allowed no runs, one hit, walked one and struck out four over two innings.
The loss went to Tristan Whaley, who threw one inning. He allowed a run on two hits, walked one and struck out none.
Foard, which won the regular season title, will be the No. 1 3A seed into the state playoffs from the conference.
Hickory will be the next 3A team from the league to get into the bracket.
South Caldwell, which finished second in the regular season, has the league’s No. 1 state 4A playoff bid.
ALL-NORTHWESTERN 3A-4A TOURNAMENT TEAM
Foard: Joel Gosda, Tyler Scronce, Trent Mosley
Hibriten: Sabion Thomas, Brad Schmertzler
Hickory: Baylor Pait, Pierson Hanvey, Jess Guarino
S. Caldwell: Brandon Sisk, Ryder Martin.
Tournament MVP: Mathew Greenwood, Foard