Helton's walk-off RBI sends Govs over Heritage, 8-7
By Leonard Buttsof The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: May 03. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: May 03. 2008 12:42AM
KNOXVILLE -- William Blount's Chase Helton was looking for a fastball. And that's what he got.
In the bottom of the seventh inning with the game tied at 7-all, Helton drilled the pitch into center field for an RBI single, and the Governors had an 8-7 victory over county rival Heritage at the District 4-AAA tournament at Bearden on Friday night.
William Blount will face Bearden at 7:30 tonight. The Bulldogs swept the Govs in the regular season. The Mountaineers will take on South-Doyle in a loser's bracket game at 5 p.m. A loss would end Heritage's season.
"All their pitchers have been trying to throw first-pitch fastballs down the middle (this season)," Helton said. "I knew I had to wait back a little bit.
"We got a little frustrated but we came back. We've had a lot of extra inning games this year, so we were prepared and knew what we had to do."
Down 7-6 in the seventh, the Govs sent Travis Webb to the plate. He waited on Heritage starter Josh Carico, who was having problems with his control, and drew a walk.
That led to a pitching change, with Tyler Edmonds taking over to try and close out the win.
WB's Mac McCord wasn't phased. He singled to right. A ground ball out forced the runner at third. Heritage then had what appeared to be a sure double play on an Adam Crisp grounder but an error allowed a run to score, tying the contest. Helton's RBI single turned the trick, and Edmonds was saddled with the loss.
"As of late, we've been playing really well," Governor coach Richie Wilhite said. "For us to fight back and fighting through the adversity, it showed our mental toughness and allowed us to win.
"Bearden is the only team in our district that swept us. We're going to surprise some people."
Ricky Robinson picked up the win for WB, pitching only the top of the seventh in relief of starter Jordan Childres.
The Mountaineers took an early 2-1 lead in the contest and increased their lead to 3-1 in the fifth on Beau Lawson's RBI single to left.
William Blount took advantage of walks and a wild pitch to score one run in the bottom of the inning. Kevin Houser's sacrifice fly tied the contest, and McCord gave the Govs the lead, 4-3, on an RBI single.
Heritage replied with four runs in the sixth, on an RBI single by Justin Montgomery, an error and Matt Wilburn's single to center.
Undeterred, William Blount closed to within one run, 7-6, in the bottom of the inning on Tyler Burstrom's RBI single and Nathan Chapman's double.