The HoCo Bears made the trip down to Leesburg yesterday afternoon to play the Lee Co Trojans which resulted in a Bears victory 7-1 to win their fourth consecutive region 1-AAAAAA championship. The game started with both teams going three up and three down in the first inning.
HoCo’s Kai Decker had a leadoff single in the top half of the second and later…. Ty Waters came to the plate and hit a two-run home run to get the Bears on the board 2-0 going into the top half of the second. The Trojans got on the board via a sac hit by Brent Smith that ran in Harrison Pafford to cut HoCo’s lead down to 2-1 in the bottom half of the third.
The Bears responded in the top half of the fourth when Hunter Chiappetta hit an rbi triple to run in Andrew Dunford to give HoCo a 3-1 lead. Eli Stephens hit an rbi single in the top half of the fifth that ran in Ethan Buffone to give the Bears a 4-1 lead which is where the score would stand heading into the top half of the seventh.
HoCo’s fifth ran was plated via a Drew Burress sac fly to center that ran in Ethan Buffone and their sixth run came in when Kai Decker was walked that rounded the bases and ran in Vick Gann. Courtesy runner Kendall Jackson for the Bears brought in the seventh run by successfully stealing home plate. That would ultimately be the final score that gave HoCo the region title.
HoCo starting pitcher Ryker Chavis allowed one run (unearned) on two hits, walked one, and struck out seven in a complete game on the mound. Ty Waters led the Bears in rbis with two followed by Eli Stephens, Andrew Dunford, Kai Decker, and Hunter Chiappetta with one each.
Lee Co starting pitcher Billy Myler allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits, walked none, and struck out three in six innings of work. Brent Smith had the Trojans’ lone rbi of the game. HoCo had eight hits and committed one error while Lee Co had two hits and committed two errors.
The Bears improved to 23-4 overall; 13-0 in region play while the Trojans fell to 19-8 overall; 9-4 in region play. These two teams will meet later today starting at 4:30pm at the HoCo Diamond in a doubleheader.
