Everything was clicking for the Holtville offense on Friday night.
The Holtville baseball team swept UMS-Wright in the AHSAA Class 5A quarterfinals on Friday night, winning 14-3 in Game 1 and 6-5 in Game 2. The Bulldogs, now 32-5, advance to the Final Four to face Headland.
Holtville will host Headland in a double header on Thursday at 4:30 p.m and 7 p.m. Game 3 will follow on Friday at 2 p.m. if needed.
Holtville’s offense got off to a fast start, scoring 10 runs on 11 hits in the first inning of Game 1 to set the tone for the whole series. The Bulldogs went on to spread 20 hits across the diamond in the first game alone, then added six more in the second game, four of which came in the final inning.
“We just came out hot in Game 1,” head coach Scott Tubbs said. “There was really no rime or reason. We were just seeing it well. We didn’t miss any barrels and even our outs were loud. Sometimes that’s how baseball rolls. We just caught on fire and it happened to be in the first inning. Then we cooled off pretty much the rest of the day until the end of the second game when we got some timely hits in a big-time situation.”
Holtville’s first at-bat of Game 1 was a strikeout, but that was all the celebrating that UMS-Wright did in the game. The Bulldogs strung together 11 consecutive one-out base hits, which included three doubles and a bases-clearing triple from Sam Silas.
Tanner Potts started the game on the mound and allowed only three runs on six hits while striking out seven batters. Potts also hit a home run in the fourth inning, then the Bulldogs added two more runs in the fifth to run-rule UMS-Wright.
In Game 2, Holtville found itself down, 5-2, in the bottom of the seventh. The Bulldogs only had two hits in the game up to the point, but there was no quit in them.
With one out, Drey Barrett started the rally with a single, then Potts and Randy Davis each singled to load the bases for senior Mikey Forney.
Forney then crushed a ball to left-center field for a bases-clearing double that tied the game, 5-5, and then came around to score on a fielder’s choice from Garrett Ingram in the next at-bat to win the game.
“We had our backs against the wall,” Tubbs said. “There was a little timeout before his at-bat and me and Mikey were talking about his approach. He jumped on that first pitch and he drove into the gap and there was no chance that I was going to stop Randy from coming around third. We were playing for the tie at the point, and it just so happened that we were able to get fortunate on the next at-bat. Mikey came up big there.”
Holtville now advances to the Final Four and will host Headland in a three-game series. The Bulldogs have yet to play in a Game 3 this postseason as they’ve swept each of their opponents.
Headland has only lost one postseason game this year, losing Game 2 to Shelby County in the quarterfinals. The Rams enter the game with a 24-3 record.
“On the mound, they’re really good,” Tubbs said. “They got a new coaching staff this year and they have that program headed in the right direction. They have some good talent there and they have the Reed Jordan kid who is a challenge. They’re going to be very good and have a couple arms. It’s going to be a tough test for us for sure.”
