Helena walks off to claim back-and-forth battle over McAdory
Published 4:18 pm Wednesday, February 28, 2024
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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
HELENA – With the game tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, the Helena Huskies found themselves in the situation ballplayers grow up dreaming of: the game on the line and on their shoulders in the batter’s box.
With two runners on and one out with a 3-1 count, Jarret Scott stepped up to the plate and delivered with an RBI double to give the Huskies the 3-2 win over the McAdory Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, Feb. 27 in front of the home fans at Helena High School.
Before that, the Huskies and Jackets went back and forth in a tightly fought battle.
McAdory started off the scoring in the top of the first inning with a two-out RBI single to open up a 1-0 lead.
The Jackets held onto that lead until the bottom of the fourth when Helena mounted a response.
After Nicholas Peters drew a leadoff walk, Braydon Kendrick hit an RBI double to bring the courtesy runner in from first base and tie the game at 1-1.
The teams traded one-two-three innings before the Jackets capitalized on a hit by pitch in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI double to reclaim the lead.
The Huskies quickly answered in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff triple by Peters. He came home two batters later on a fly out by Hayden Berry, which tied up the score at 2-2 heading into the seventh inning.
Helena allowed just one hit in the top of the seventh before getting out of the inning and setting up the offense with a walk-off opportunity.
Ty Stricklin was hit by a pitch to start out the inning, and after a strikeout, Davis Kelley drew a four pitch walk to put runners on first and second for Scott.
On the fifth pitch of the at bat, Scott delivered a double to center field and brought Stricklin home to score the game-winning run.
Helena will hope to carry that momentum into the Perfect Game High School Showdown on Thursday, Feb. 29. The Huskies will take on Catholic Baton Rouge out of Louisiana at 8 p.m. that night at the Hoover Met.