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Miller Grove’s Landon Burnett hits a double in the Hornets 4-3 win in game one against Avinger Thursday in Paris. Burnett led the way with a three-hit game in their series opener win. Staff photo by Tyler Lennon
Win in walk-off fashion in game 1
PARIS- The Miller Grove Hornets traveled to Paris High School Thursday, looking to play the first two games of their three-game set against Avinger in the Bi-District round of the playoffs.
GAME ONE
Miller Grove found themselves in some trouble early, allowing a pair of doubles to open the game and putting them behind 1-0. The Hornets allowed one more run in the frame and immediately trailed by two runs.
The Hornets looked like they were going to answer back immediately when lead-off hitter, and the Hornets starting pitcher, Jagger Qualls, drew a walk to open the top of the first. Landon Burnett hit a double later in the frame, but they were unable to plate a run, stranding both runners on base.
Miller Grove went on to strand runners on base in each of their first four innings before finally getting on the board in the bottom of the fifth.
Qualls once again led things off with a single. Jacob George and Burnett each followed him with singles of their own, loading the bases with no outs. Lexton Sly popped up into an infield fly rule, bringing up Riley Hasten with the bases loaded and one out.
Hasten laid down a beautiful squeeze bunt, both scoring Qualls but also reaching base on a single, once again loading the bases with one out. Later in the frame George came in to score on a passed ball, tying the game up at 2-2.
Miller Grove took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth when Qualls hit a one-out double to score Ethan George, giving the Hornets a 3-2 lead.
Avinger answered back in the top of the seventh, tying the game up at 3-3 and keeping the game alive.
Hasten started a rally for the Hornets in the bottom of the seventh with a oneout single. Lance Davis followed with a walk, putting runners on first and second with one out. After a Kagen Scott strikeout, the Hornets had two men on and two outs.
Miller Grove put a double-steal on with Hasten trying to steal third, the catcher made a bad throw on the steal attempt and the ball went into the outfield, allowing Hasten to go score the winning run and allowing Miller Grove to walk off with a 4-3 win.
Qualls threw a great game for the Hornets but ended up with the no decision. Qualls went 6.2 innings allowing three runs and nine strikeouts. Sly came in the record the final out in the seventh, which he did on a strikeout, and picked up the win.
Burnett, Hasten and Qualls fueled the Hornets offense with multi-hit games. Burnett was 3-for-4 with a double, while Qualls and Hasten each had two hits.
GAME TWO
After a 30 minute break between games, the two teams were ready to square off for game two of the series, with the Hornets as the away team this time. Miller Grove, looking to put the series away with a win, opened the game by loading the bases before they record an out, thanks to a Qualls walk and back-to-back singles from George and Burnett. Sly followed with a single of his own, driving in Qualls and George to take an early 2-0 lead.
Things stayed close for the first few innings before Miller Grove began to unravel in the bottom of the fourth. Leading 2-1 entering the frame, the team committed a pair of errors in the inning and allowed six runs. Avinger added four more runs in the fifth and won the game by a final score of 11-2.
Sly took an unfortunate loss in the game, allowing 11 runs but only two of which were earned. Miller Grove had five hits in the game, as Qualls, George, Burnett, Sly and Kavan Smith each had one.
Coverage of the series deciding game three will be published in upcoming editions of the News-Telegram.