Robert Stewart hit a three-run home run — his first homer of the season — in the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 2 on Saturday to give Hillgrove (29-8) a 13-10 victory over host Parkview (28-10) that evened their Class AAAAA best-of-three championship series 1-1.
Hillgrove (29-8) had trailed 8-2 in the third inning and 10-7 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. The key blows along the comeback trail were Justin Mobley’s grand slam, which cut the lead to 7-6, and Michael Adkins’ three-run homer with two outs in the sixth that made the score 10-10.
Mobley is a senior who didn’t have a hit in a regular season that was marred by injury. He was moved up six spots in the lineup to the No. 2 spot for the second game. Adkins was 7-for-8 with two home runs and three doubles on the day.
Another Hillgrove hero, perhaps the biggest, was relief pitcher Josh Hagerman, who pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing only two runs. Hagerman had fewer than 20 innings pitched in the regular season, but is 2-0 in the playoffs. He also beat Mill Creek with long relief in a comeback from a 5-0 deficit.
In the 10th, after three scoreless innings of relief for both teams, leadoff batter Max Oberkofler was hit by a pitch, and Tyler Graham reached on error when his bunt drew a high throw to first base. Stewart’s homer cleared the wall in right center.
Hillgrove’s win spoiled the good work of Parkview junior Matt Olson, who hit a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run homer for a 10-7 lead in the sixth. It was Olson’s 15th and 16 homers of the season.
With Olson (8-3) as the winning pitcher, Parkview won the opener 6-5 after sweating out Hillgrove’s three-run rally in the seventh and final inning. Adkins had a two-out single with two outs and no base runners to start that rally, which got interesting when Parkview dropped a ball in right field and Oberkofler hit a three-run homer. But Parkview coaxed the final out to seal it.
Edwin Arias (3-for-4) hit a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, in the bottom of the first for a 2-0 lead. Hillgrove tied the score 2-2 on a home run by Tucker Ehmig, his sixth of the season, in the second and back-to-back doubles by Ryan Raper and Adkins in the second.
Parkview took command with a three-run bottom of the third on just one hit. Two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a two-run throwing error by the catcher would become the regrets of Hillgrove’s day.
The decisive Game 3 will be played at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Parkview.
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