Hibriten rallies for comeback win

Trent Reynolds had a feeling.

With the Hibriten baseball team standing on the brink of elimination in the Catawba Valley Athletic Conference tournament, the Panthers' starting catcher approached the plate with a chance to make a difference. Down 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Reynolds came to bat with the bases loaded and a new Hickory pitcher atop the hill.

“Fresh meat,” he would later say.

Reynolds shot a wink over to his manager as he walked out to take his cuts, and Terry Henthorne just knew.

“I could tell by the look in his eye that big things were going to happen,” the Panther skipper said. “He was going to zero in on one.”

Sure enough, Reynolds did. After letting one pitch sail by, Reynolds ripped a line drive over the center fielder's head to get the Panthers within a run. One batter later, Matt Edwards ripped a two-RBI double of his own, plating what turned out to be the game-tying and game-winning runs. Hibriten escaped L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory with a 7-6 victory.

“They took a look at the scoreboard there in the sixth inning (when Hibriten trailed by three), and they didn't like it,” Henthorne said. “They did what they needed to get some runs on the board.”

Like the one prior, Edwards' at-bat had a mythology of its own. He headed to the plate with the intention of squeeze bunting, but those plans quickly changed when he failed to get his initial attempt down.

“I should have done my job,” Edwards said. “But I'm glad I didn't.”

Henthorne decided to deviate from the original plan, instead allowing his second baseman to swing away.

“I gave him the green light and let him go, and he didn't let me down,” Henthorne said.

Hibriten's strong sequence of at-bats in the sixth came on the heels of a prolonged stretch of dominance by Hickory starter Tyler Poole. Poole had set down 14 of the last 15 batters he faced up until that point, with the lone baserunner reaching via an error. Hibriten's Joel Woods, Jack Howard and Dylan Crump got aboard with singles to start the sixth, however, prompting Hickory manager David Craft to bring in Tyler Barnette. Reynolds and Edwards did the rest.

“Give them credit,” Craft said, exhaling after the game. “They came back and put it into play and got some huge hits. Hats off to them.”

Hibriten's Bryan Tuttle picked up the win in relief, going the final three innings without allowing a run. The win was his 10th of the season.

Even with the team trailing in the late innings, Henthorne described the attitude on the bench as a positive one.

“They know it takes 21 outs,” he said. “They were there with their brothers, they had the rally hats out, they were shaking the fence. On the big stage, that was something to stand back as a coach and watch.”

Howard was the only Panther with multiple hits in the game, going 2-for-3 and reaching once on an error. Hickory's Ricky Paul went 3-for-4, and delivered a key hit in the rally that got the Tornadoes back into the game after trailing 3-1 in the early innings.

Hibriten will face St. Stephens in the CVAC final. The Indians advanced with a 9-2 win Friday over Bandys.

Hibriten and St. Stephens, the No. 2 seed, split the season series.

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