Hibriten tops West

As first baseman Jack Howard explains it, the Hibriten philosophy to hitting curveballs isn't complicated.

“Hang ‘em and bang ‘em - That's what we always say.”

Thursday in Gamewell, Howard put that philosophy on display. He turned on a sixth inning breaking pitch for a two-run homer that turned the tide and carried Hibriten to a come-from-behind win. The Panthers topped county-rival West Caldwell 7-4.

“Our boys just found a way to win,” Hibriten coach Terry Henthorne said. “We just kept trudging along and did what we had to do.”

West Caldwell (6-11 overall, 3-9 Catawba Valley Athletic Conference) had just taken its first lead of the game when Howard's blast cleared the left-field fence to give Hibriten (13-2 overall, 11-1 CVAC) a 4-3 lead. Howard finished the day 3-for-4 with two RBIs.

“I knew that we needed to put some runs on the board,” Howard said. “I just got the pitch and put my best swing on it.”

Second baseman Matt Edwards drove in two more runs in the sixth and one in the seventh to provide the Panthers with some cushion en route to their second straight win, the eighth victory in nine tries.

“You have to just forget about everything in situations like that,” Edwards said. “You just know you have teammates on base, and you have to get them in.”

Though it was no consolation to the West Caldwell players, the team's improvement was on display in a game where the ninth-place Warriors held a 3-2 lead on first-place Hibriten with only two innings remaining.

“I ain't going to lie to you, this one hurts,” Warrior center fielder Travis Harrison said. “This was one of the finer games we've played. But this season isn't over for us yet. We'll be back.”

Harrison played a key role in West Caldwell's fifth-inning rally. Harrison smashed the second pitch of the inning on a line over the fence in left field to tie the game. Three pitches later, teammate A.J. Jenkins hit a solo home run of his own to give the Warriors the lead.

Turns out, it was short-lived.

“It's just a matter of staying consistent,” West Caldwell coach Kevin Abee said. “Against a good team like Hibriten, you can't afford any mistakes. Because they will take advantage of them.”

The Warriors left seven runners on base in the game. They had won five of their last eight contests coming in.

“That's baseball,” Jenkins said. “It's just the way it goes sometimes.”

Hibriten plays again at Patton Tuesday. West Caldwell is at Bandys.

Panther JVs win

Hibriten won the junior varsity baseball game with West Caldwell 15-4 in six innings.

Kyle Haney was the winning pitcher. Haney also went 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run, as did Matt Wedding. Jonathan Whitehead was 3-for-3 with a grand slam, Alex Austin 3-for-4 and Tyler Benge and Jonathan Greene 2-for-4 each. Other key hits came from Zach Adams, Brandon Curtain and Ethan Turner.

West was led by the 3-for-3 night by Michael McElyea. John Gilliam, Nick Smith, John Moore and Dillon Smith also had hits.

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