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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

HELENA – On a day that contained many emotions and a solid game of baseball, the Helena Huskies and the Hoover Buccaneers met for a defensive showdown and battled intently on Thursday, March 6 at Helena High School.

With both pitching staffs holding their ground firmly and not allowing their opponent to string together much offensive production, the Huskies used the one run it earned to take down Hoover in a win that saw it not record a single hit, something that does not happen often in the sport of baseball.

Before the game though, both teams came together to celebrate something that was bigger than the game. 

On March 6, 2024, Dash Barton, son of Bucs assistant coach Jason Barton, passed away. With the game being on the anniversary of the death, both teams joined before the first pitch to honor the life of a kid who touched many, allowing Barton and his family to feel the sense of community that was around them on that day.

Following the ceremony, the game got underway, but little did either team know what was ahead of them.

In the top of the first inning, Hoover recorded the game’s first hit with a one-out double into left field, but while the Bucs felt a sense of early momentum, nothing came of it.

Helena stepped up to the plate to begin its day on offense in the bottom of the first, which saw patience become a quick factor. Brett Cannon and Jarret Scott led things off with back-to-back walks, handing the bat off to Nick Peters. On the second pitch of his at-bat, both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Peters later drew a walk to load the bases early on.

Davis Kelley then took the field for his first plate appearance, and with two strikes in the count, grounded out to the pitcher, but scored the first run of the game to make it 1-0 in favor of the Huskies.

What both teams did not realize is that that run would be the only one scored in this pitcher’s duel, as the rest of the game continued on like clockwork. 

Hoover was able to make contact with the ball, but did not see much luck as the ball kept finding the gloves of the Helena fielders. 

The Bucs found moments to shed some light with a single in the top of the third and the top of the fourth, but could not create any surges of energy in the process.

As the game made its way to the top of the seventh inning with Huskies’ starting pitcher Brayden Dockery still standing on the mound, Hoover began to mount some pressure.

Following a lead-off strikeout, a walk and a single quickly put two runners on base. Another strikeout got two outs on the board before the Bucs loaded the bases on a ground ball to the left side that yielded an error, giving them all it needed to try and take the lead.

However, with the weight of the world on his shoulders, Dockery recorded a third strikeout in the inning to end the game and give Helena a massive 1-0 victory at home.

Dockery pitched all seven innings in the low-scoring affair, giving up four hits while also striking out five and walking one over the course of his 100 total pitches.

The Huskies’ offense never saw a hit recorded on the stat sheet, but drew a free pass on seven separate occasions, helping them to ultimately score the one run they needed to escape victorious.

With the win, Helena improves to 8-5 on the season, but prepares for yet another tough game on the road as it faces the defending Class 7A state champions in the Bob Jones Patriots on Friday, March 7 at 4:30 p.m. at Bob Jones High School.