CVAC Champs: Hibriten takes conference title with win Tuesday

Hibriten's Billy Copper was trying to deliver a sacrifice bunt, just move the runners over.

Instead, he helped instantly deliver a conference championship.

Copper hit a bunt popup, bloop single and brought home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth against Hickory Tuesday to give Hibriten an 8-7 victory and its first conference title since 1994. Hibriten coach Terry Henthorne doesn't mind the sound of that.

“It sounds great,” Henthorne. “I know it hasn't been said a whole lot the past few years.

“For the first time in my life, I don't have a whole lot of words.”

The Panthers (17-5 overall, 14-4 Catawba Valley Athletic Conference) tied for first with St. Stephens and Foard. The three teams split the season series with one another, so the tiebreaker for the conference tournament came down to how the top trio fared against Patton, the next best league team. St. Stephens and Foard split with Patton, while Hibriten swept the first-year program. Hibriten, then, earned the No. 1 in the tournament that begins today. The Panthers will host rival West Caldwell at 7 p.m.

Hibriten and Hickory were tied 7-7 after the Red Tornadoes (14-10, 9-9) pulled even with a run in the seventh. Two runners reached for Hibriten in the ninth, including Bryan Tuttle on a single to center and Thomas Mabe on a bunt single toward first, setting the stage for senior Copper, playing his last regular season home game.

With no outs, Copper attempted to lay down a bunt toward first, but instead popped the ball up in the air near the bag. Hickory first baseman Kurt Hammons charged to field the bunt, so he was out of position when it was popped up. No one else moved toward first and the ball fell safely in the dirt behind the bag.

“I knew I had to take off,” Tuttle, who was at second, said.

The junior pitcher rounded third with a full head of steam as the Tornadoes scrambled to field the ball. He scored easily.

“I was just trying to advance the runners, but it's better to be lucky than good sometimes,” Copper said. “'It's not how hard you hit it, but where you hit it.”

Both teams hit it a lot Tuesday, combining for 27 hits and 12 of the 15 runs scored came in two innings. Hickory struck first, scoring three runs in the third on three hits, two sacrifices and a Panther error. But Hibriten responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Gavin Christian, RBI-singles from Jack Howard and Jon Easton, an RBI-triple from Dylan Crump and a Hickory throwing error following a Tuttle infield single.

Hickory pulled even in the next half inning, when Hammons belted a two-RBI single past second. But again, Hibriten answered, this time scoring two in the home half of the fourth. One run came in on a Christian single. Christian later scored on a wild pitch to give Hibriten the 7-5 edge.

Tyler Barnette drove in a run for Hickory in the sixth and the Tornadoes tied it an inning later when a third strike turned into a passed ball.

Tuttle pitched a complete game and improved to 9-1. He threw 130 pitches.

“Bryan has a rubber arm, always has,” Henthorne said.

Hibriten's last share of a regular season league title came in 1994 when the Panthers, West Caldwell and Bandys split the Southern District 7 title. Hibriten and Bandys split the top spot among the CVAC's 2-A schools two years ago.

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