Baseball: Fuquay-Varina forces third game, beats Pinecrest 5-4 in extra innings
The Fuquay-Varina Bengals forced a decisive game three in the 4A baseball Eastern regional championship series with a 5-4 win over the Pinecrest Patriots in extra innings at home on Thursday night.
A dramatic walk-off sacrifice fly that scored Hunter Saulisbury from second kept the season alive for the reigning 4A state champions and ensured the series will go back to Southern Pines on Saturday.
Pinecrest jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when cleanup hitter Colby Wallace grounded a single through the left side of the infield to score a run with two-outs.
The next two half innings went by without any scoring, but the Bengals got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the second as Manny Cordova hit an RBI single and another run came around on a wild pitch.
After a shaky first inning, junior pitcher H.L. Smith continued to settle into the game for the Bengals, holding the Patriots scoreless in the third and fourth innings to keep his team's 2-1 lead intact.
The Fuquay offense rewarded him in the bottom of the fourth as they worked a pair of walks that both came around to score on an RBI double that made it 4-1 after four innings.
Pinecrest worked to battle back in the top of the fifth though as a single and an error put the first two batters of the inning on first and second with no outs.
Smith struck out the next two batters before defensive issues struck the Bengals. A single that would have loaded the bases made it a 4-2 game after a miscue in the outfield, and a ground ball that could have been an out got by the right side of the infield to score two runs and allow the Patriots to tie the game at 4-4.
Neither team struck again in the allotted seven innings, so the game went into extras with the score tied 4-4.
After a swift top half of the eighth inning, the Bengals got a base hit from Andrew Keller, who was subbed off so that Saulisbury could serve as a pinch runner.
The substitution paid off, as Saulisbury used his speed to score from second on the sacrifice fly.
Game three between the Bengals and Patriots will take place back in Southern Pines on Saturday at 1:00 P.M.
The winner of that game will take on the winner of the 4A Western regional championship series between Providence and T.C. Roberson. Providence holds a 1-0 lead entering the second game after a crushing win in the opener.
