HAMILTON — The Hamilton High School baseball team had its chances Thursday night.
Despite working 11 walks, Hamilton wasn’t able to scratch out enough clutch hits en route to a 12-8 loss to Ingomar in Game 2 of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A State tournament.
The victory helped send Ingomar (23-6) on to the North State championship series next week, while Hamilton ends its season at 9-13.
Hamilton coach Lewis Earnest said the Lions didn’t do enough of the things that helped them win series against Pine Grove and St. Joe’s in the first two rounds in either game against Ingomar to extend their season. Ingomar won Game 1 2-1 on Tuesday night.
“That was the story of the whole series,” Earnest said. “I think we stranded 14 or 15 Tuesday night. We stranded eight in the first three innings. We just couldn’t get the hit. We played great defense up there and had great pitching down here, but we didn’t play any defense.”
Earnest said starting pitcher John Wesley Imel gave the Lions a chance to win by gutting out an effort in which he allowed nine hits and two walks and struck out five. But Earnest said Imel tired after four innings and had to be pulled with one out in the sixth inning after he surrendered a single to Kelton Hall. Austin Taylor came on in relief, but Hall came around to score with the help of two wild pitches and a single by Cade Hall. The second run scored on a bases-loaded walk to Matt Browning.
Ingomar broke the game open with five runs in the seventh. Hamilton committed two errors in the inning. The Lions were credited with seven errors on the evening that helped offset any benefit they earned from the 11 walks. Hamilton pitchers allowed seven walks.
Hamilton rallied for three runs in the last half of the seventh thanks to the fourth hit of the night by Imel, a double by McKellar Conwill, an infield hit by Austin Bishop, an error, and an infield groundout by Hayden Evans.
Allen Baty was the only other Hamilton player with multiple hits. Imel also had two RBIs. Tanner Dement, Evans, and Westley Fikes each had two walks, but the Lions couldn’t capitalize on having the bases loaded in the first or the fourth.
Earnest said errors and walks were problems early in the season. He said the Lions played better defense late in the season only to see it catch up with them again in what turned out to be the last game of the season. On Thursday, he said the mistakes snowballed behind pitchers who did a good job of getting the Falcons to put the ball in play.
“The way the year started and the way it ended, I am proud of them for the way they battled back and the way they fought down the stretch and got us back in the playoffs, where we hadn’t been in three years,” Earnest said. “These kids hadn’t been there. They finally got a chance to put Hamilton back in the playoffs and make a little run at it. Hopefully, it will be a shot in the arm for next year.”
Hamilton loses eight seniors from this season’s team. Earnest feels good about the fact a handful of younger players, including four freshmen and a seventh-grader, saw significant playing time this season. He said getting back to the playoffs is an important step in having the returning players experience the postseason and understand what it will take for them to grow up.
“It is almost like we had forgotten how to win,” Earnest said. “They finally realized they can win. Hopefully, they believe they can win and it will carry over. For a while there, we forgot how. Hopefully they realize they can and they will.”
Hall paced Ingomar with three hits, while starting pitcher Dillen Speck, Brady Cox, and Ethan Taylor had two.
“I guess the only way I am happy with the series is that we’re getting to play next week,” Ingomar coach Andy Wilbanks said. “But boy oh boy oh boy, if we don’t clean up and play better baseball … you just don’t win games a lot of times when you make as many errors as we did and you walk 12 or 13 people. But I am very proud of my guys. You make it to the North Half championship series, I am proud of my guys and the season they have had. We just have to clean it up and focus.”
Hamilton used a four-run third to take a 4-3 lead, only to see Ingomar respond with two runs in the top of the fourth. The second runner scored on a strikeout and throw to first base. Hamilton tied the game in the fifth, but it had two runners erased at home in what could have been a much bigger inning.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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