HiToms win shootout in walk-off fashion:Daniel Frey on the CPL Trail

HiToms win shootout in walk-off fashion
from Daniel Frey with HPT HiToms Baseball

High Point/Thomasville, N.C. – The High Point-Thomasville HiToms (24-18) snap a three game losing streak on David Sheaffer’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth to knock off Lexington County (22-21) 10-9. The Sheaffer hit is the HiToms fifth walk-off win of the season to cap off a crazy back and forth come from behind effort at home.

“We have not caught a single break since I can’t tell you when,” HiToms head coach Brian Rountree said. “The kids kept fighting even though we went down we kept fighting and believing.”

Wasting little time in the bottom of the first inning, Wyatt Cross crushed a grand slam to right field to push the HiToms out to a 4-0 lead off the Blowfish starting pitcher Keyton Gibson.

Lexington County wasn’t going to roll over as Dalton Ewing smacked a two-run double to left field placing the Blowfish on the board in the top of the second. The next batter Kyle Caruthers punched a single to center cutting the early deficit down to one run trailing 4-3.

The Blowfish completely erased the four run lead on a RBI double by Charlie Madden in the third who also drove in the early go-ahead run in the top of the fifth on a run-scoring groundout to third.

Austin Reich threw four innings and struck out six batters before Jacob Norman carried the HiToms through the middle innings notching three strikeouts.

Trailing 5-4 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth an error by the Blowfish shortstop Adam Renwick allowed the tying run to cruise in.

Carson Jackson made his first appearance as a pitcher in the top of the eighth and threw the ball away from first base on a ground ball back to the mound as the Blowfish regained the lead 6-5. Logan Welch (2-1) was called upon to limit the damage but two more runs scored on a double by Daniel Edgeworth. An RBI single put the Blowfish ahead 9-5 in the bottom of the eighth.

The HiToms weren’t going down without a fight. Callahan Moltzan in his third game back with the team since dislocating his finger on May 31 clubbed his first homer of the season a two-run bomb to keep the HiToms in it down 9-7. Danny Sullivan placed a base hit to right field and Ewing fired a bullet home but Hunter Slater slid under the tag for another crucial HiTom run behind 9-8 going to the ninth.

“With the departure of some of our players due to injury and other things we’ve had some other guys step up,” Rountree said.

Welch kept the Blowfish off the board in the top of the ninth and Cesar Trejo sent a message as the leadoff batter smoking a solo homer to left center tying up the game at 9.

“I got ahead in the count and I got my mind right,” Cesar Trejo said. “I was able to put a good swing on it and after that I had confidence in my teammates.”

With one out and two runners on, David Sheaffer flared a line drive to right center bringing in David Newcomer as the winning run.

After the thrilling come from behind win the HiToms take a over-night trip to Virginia, first taking on the CPL East leading Peninsula Pilots tomorrow, July 25 at 7 p.m.