Hibriten stays in the title hunt

The Hibriten Panthers came from behind three times to defeat the visiting Bandys Trojans 3-2 Thursday and by doing so, remained in a first-place tie with Foard and St. Stephens in the CVAC. Foard defeated Maiden 8-0 and St. Stephens won 6-5 over West Caldwell.

The win gives Hibriten two victories in three games and comes on the heels of a disappointing 8-3 loss at Maiden Tuesday.

“It's great to be back,” Hibriten coach Terry Henthorne said. “I felt that we had a monkey on our backs. The boys have been struggling, but have worked hard, just trying to score more runs and to win ball games. We had some people to step up tonight.”

With the game tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Panthers loaded the bases with a walk by Jon Easton, a Dylan Crump single to center and another walk to Ethan Turner. That's when Trojan coach Chris Fulbright removed starting pitcher Colby Yount in favor of Cory Roberts, with two outs. Roberts threw only two pitches to Thomas Mabe. The second pitch was batted off Bandys second baseman Casey Howard's glove allowing Easton to score the winning run.

“This was a big situation; I just tried to make contact with the ball,” Mabe said.

Although Mabe was officially 0-for-3 in the books, he did make contact during every at-bat and had a sacrifice.

“I'm really proud of Thomas Mabe,” Henthorne said. “He's been hitting the ball really well, but they keep catching them.”

Bandys (9-13 overall, 8-9 CVAC) scored a run in the top of the first when J.W. Laney singled, stole second and scored on Colby Yount's single to center. The Trojans threatened again in the second, loading the bases only to have Bryan Tuttle, now 8-1, strike out Keith Yount for the final out.

Hibriten (15-5, 13-4) tied the game in the bottom of the third with a two-out rally. Panther shortstop Billy Copper singled to left, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored when Joel Woods doubled to the left-centerfield fence.

Bandys surged ahead in the fourth when Jordyn Houston singled and later scored on a Panther infield error.

Hibriten tied the game for the second time in the bottom of the fourth. Jack Howard singled up the middle and was followed by Crump's infield single. Tuttle tried to advance the runners on a bunt, but beat out the throw for an infield hit to load the bases. Mabe then lifted a Rowe pitch high into center field scoring Howard on the sacrifice fly.

Colby Yount tripled to centerfield in the fifth. But he was left stranded, thanks to Howard's diving, over-the-shoulder catch snag in foul ground, which came off Kyle Flynn's bat.

“I saw it come out of the lights and I stuck my glove under it,” Howard said.

Tuttle won for the sixth straight time, going the distance. He gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out four. He allowed one earned run.

“I was glad to see someone step up to the plate and do it big,” said Tuttle, speaking of Mabe's contact with the ball.

Hibriten closes CVAC play Monday at home against Hickory, but steps out of conference tonight to battle long-time foe Ashe County in Jefferson.

Panther JVs win

The Hibriten JV team posted an 18-7 win over Bandys. Sean McGarvey allowed just four hits and struck out five to get the win.

Tyler Benge had three hits for Hibriten, while Matt Wedding, Kyle Haney and Zach Adams had two apiece. Wedding had a home run. The Panthers are 16-4.

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