S

The Huntland High School Hornets beat the Fayetteville Tigers 10-6 at Eagleville High School Thursday in an elimination game for the District 9A tournament.

The Hornets took an early lead, held off an attempted late rally and pulled away for good in the sixth to advance in the bracket and keep their season alive.

The Hornets put up a trio of runs in the bottom of the first as Jed Ashley hit a two-run single and Caydon Bradford added a sacrifice fly to give Huntland an early 3-0 advantage.

The Tigers countered with two runs in the top of the second, but the Hornets got those runs right back in the bottom of the second on a two-run single by Trace Morris to make it a 5-2 game.

The Hornets tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth as Morris and Ashley hit consecutive sacrifice flies to boost the lead up to 7-2.

The Tigers broke through for four runs in the top of the fifth to chip the deficit down to a single run at 7-6.

The Tigers then put the potential tying run in scoring position in the top of the sixth after a single and an error to start the frame, but Huntland pitcher Morris was able to get out of the jam while keeping the slight lead intact.

The Hornets secured their advantage with a three-run sixth inning as an RBI double by Ashley and consecutive RBI singles by Matthew Dickson and Bradford put them up by a score of 10-6 late.

Morris and Blaine Counts combined to strike out the side in the top of the seventh as the Hornets won by four.

Eli Wiggs pitched the first 1 1-3 innings for the Hornets with one strikeout, no hits and one unearned run allowed.

Dickson followed with 3 2-3 innings pitched in relief with four strikeouts, five hits and five runs allowed.

Bradford pitched to two batters with one hit and no runs allowed. Morris recorded 1 2-3 innings pitched with four strikeouts, no hits and no runs allowed.

Counts struck out the lone batter he faced to conclude the contest.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 8-14 on the season.

They will next play Friday against Cornersville High School at Eagleville in an elimination game for the District 9A tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

If the Hornets beat Cornersville, they will then play Moore County High School immediately afterward on Friday in an elimination semifinal game at Eagleville.