MADISON — By Sam Meek’s recollection, he had never had a walk-off hit through all his years of Little League and his first two years of high school baseball.
But with two on and one out in the bottom of the seventh in a 3-3 game in Wednesday’s opening round of the Madison Shawe Sectional, the Hauser sophomore lined a single to right, scoring courtesy runner Jacob Johnson with the winning run in a 4-3 win against Rising Sun.
“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit, and I got it,” Meek said. “It feels really good to be able to win a game and move on.”
The Jets (12-11) will play in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Monday against the winner of Wednesday’s late game between Shawe and Oldenburg Academy.
Hauser led 3-0 going into the top of the seventh, with Jared Schoen having allowed only two hits. But an error, two walks, two hits and a passed ball allowed the Shiners (15-5) to tie it.
“We weren’t ever going to give up, no matter what,” Jared Schoen said. “We never lost focus, and we just kept on hammering it.”
Will Rose led off the bottom of the seventh with a single. Schoen tried to sacrifice, but Rose was forced at second. Schoen went to second on a wild pitch, and after Evan Shaw was hit by a pitch, Meek came through with his game-winning hit.
“We talk about going that extra distance and trying to gut it out, and I think today, we did,” Hauser coach Jerry Schoen said. “We got a key hit at the right time.”
The Jets jumped on the board with a run in the first. Brandon Sims led off with a walk, went to second on a sacrifice by Nathan Branum and scored on an infield single by Will Rose.
Hauser added to the lead in the sixth. Jared Schoen led off with a double, and Shaw tried to sacrifice and reached on an error. After a walk to Meek loaded the bases, Aaron Fields hit a grounder to second. The throw home was off the mark, allowing two runs to come home.
