Hebron Christian rode its superior pitching to the school’s first baseball championship, sweeping Providence Christian 6-5 and 6-3 on Saturday in Dacula to win the Class A title.
Particularly impressive was Hebron Christian left-hander Mason Felt (11-1), who struck out 16 in the second game. Felt worked rapidly and at one point had retired seven of eight batters on strikeouts. He allowed two solo home runs, but pitched out of his only danger spot in the fourth when he struck out three straight with two runners on base.
Hebron Christian (33-3) took the lead in the second inning on back-to-back doubles by brothers Lew and Matt Stephens, then took command by scoring a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings. Jordan Hillyer crushed a two-run homer in the third, one pitch after the umpire asked him to remove a chain from his neck.
The Lions tacked on two more runs in the next inning on a double by Christian Davila and a run-scoring grounder by Brady Shoppe.
Providence Christian (26-13) scored on an opposite-field home run by Cristin Stewart, his state-record 26th of the season, and on a long homer by Alan Skinner, who took the loss as the starting pitcher (6-3).
Hebron Christian won the first game in dramatic style, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to overcome a one-run deficit. The uprising came off reliever David Pence (2-1), who allowed a single by Shoppe and a double by Danny Lockhart and intentionally walked Hillyer to load the bases.
Providence Christian brought in reliever Erich Stahl to pitch to P.J. Westbury, who immediately lined a double to right field to score the winning runs. It was Westbury’s first hit of the day.
Hebron Christian led 4-0 after Davila hit a pair of solo home runs and Hillyer connected on a two-run shot. But the Stars answered by scoring four in the top of the fourth on a single by Josh Carter and a long three-run homer by Austin Lloyd.
The runs came off Hillyer, who pitched six innings, scattered four hits and struck out nine; only one of the four runs he allowed were earned. He was relieved by Kevin Burgee, who gave up the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh on Steven Slaughter’s two-out double. But Burgee (8-1) wound up being the fortunate recipient of the seventh-inning magic.
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