Huntingdon High School’s baseball team ended the post-season on a historic note Saturday, May 24, when they finished as TSSAA Div. 1 Class 2A Baseball Runner-Up.
It was their second consecutive Runner-Up finish.
The Mustangs fell to Lakeland Prep 8-1 in the State Championship final following a massive comeback in the semifinal round against White House-Heritage (WH-H).
Massive First-Round Win
On Wednesday, May 21, Huntingdon dominated Sweetwater in the first round of the Spring Fling tournament, beating the team 12-0 in five innings.
Senior Easton Byars was the Mustangs’ starting pitcher.
He faced 12 batters, of which he struck out seven. Out of 54 pitches, 33 were strikes, and he allowed only one hit.
Byars also got 3 RBIs, along with Gray Eubanks, who went 3-3 at the plate and scored three of the Mustangs’ 12 runs.
Loss to White House-Heritage
Tragedy struck the Mustangs’ hopes of an undefeated run to the Championship, when White House-Heritage pulled off a narrow defeat on May 22.
After four scoreless innings, WH-H got on the board in the bottom of the fifth.
Huntingdon answered back in the top of the sixth when Broox Bennett hit a single to bring Wesley Williams across homeplate.
However, a WH-H run in the bottom of the sixth brought them one over the Mustangs, and the game ended with Huntingdon losing 2-1.
Battle Back Through the Bracket
The narrow loss to WH-H forced the Mustangs into the loser’s bracket with no room for error.
On Thursday, May 22, they defeated Westview in an 11-8 shootout, clawing back from an early 4-0 deficit.
After a shaky start, the Mustangs put up six runs in the third inning to take control of the game. Of those six, Gray Eubanks was responsible for half when he hit a three-run homer.
Westview tied it late, but the Mustangs answered again in extra innings with a three-run burst that sealed the win.
Braylin Dearmon led the team with three hits, while Eubanks and Silas Sharp each notched three RBIs. Broox Bennett, who drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth, also had multiple hits in the game.
Double Dose of Revenge
The next day, Huntingdon faced the task of having to beat White House-Heritage twice to advance to the title game.
They made quick work of it in the first matchup. The Mustangs rolled to a 9-1 victory.
Eubanks went 2-for-3 with three RBIs, and Huntingdon never looked back after scoring in the second.
With everything on the line, the Mustangs came back out for a rematch later that evening.
They took the lead early and never let go, beating White House-Heritage 11-4 in the elimination game.
Braylon Rich crushed a three-run homer in the fourth inning, and Brady Warbritton went 3-for-4.
Byars, who had pitched six innings earlier in the day, returned to close it out.
Final Showdown
On Saturday, May 24, Huntingdon took the field in the State Championship game against Lakeland Prep.
But the Mustangs’ momentum ran out against a sharp Lakeland squad, who capitalized on early defensive miscues and took a quick lead.
Despite a solo home run from Hayes Eubanks in the fifth inning and a pair of hits from Silas Sharp, the Mustangs couldn’t get the offense going.
They ultimately fell 9-1, finishing as State Runner-Up for the second consecutive season.
It was a tough end to a historic run, but the Mustangs undoubtedly have one of the top programs in Class 2A baseball.
