HOPE — There are situations in baseball games that seem to work out in the best possible way.
That was the case in the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game between Class A No. 5 Hauser and visiting Shelbyville Monday night.
The Jets’ speedy No. 9 hitter, Jacob Luken, had been hit by a pitch to begin the inning. That brought up lead-off man Sean Miller.
Although Luken advanced to second on a wild pitch, it was not necessary. Miller turned on an inside fastball and launched it over the left-field fence for the walkoff home run, giving Hauser the 5-3 victory.
“I’m not taking anything away from any of my players, but there is nobody I would rather have up in that situation than Sean Miller,” Hauser coach Nate Long said. “He’s one of our leaders.”
With Luken on second, Miller admitted that he was looking for something to drive to right field.
“I was looking for a fastball middle out to drive the other way. With Jacob (Luken) on second, he scores on anything to right. I just got an inside fastball that I was able to hit pretty well,” Miller said.
The Jets (10-3) fought the Golden Bears (5-10) tooth and nail to even get the game to extra innings. Shelbyville had taken a one-run lead in each of the sixth and seventh innings, but Hauser clawed its way back to tie the game each inning.
In the sixth, Will Trotter drew a leadoff walk. After a failed sacrifice attempt, Kameron Lawson also drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Aaron Mee then came through with a hit to drive in Kobe Meahl with the tying run.
The seventh was a bit more perilous. The Jets again trailed by a run, 3-2, and the first two batters were retired. An infield hit by Jackson Paradise kept their hopes alive. Two more walks loaded the bases, putting Paradise on third. A wild pitch allowed Paradise to scamper home, tying the game again and sending it into extra innings, allowing for Miller’s heroics.
Hauser had to reformulate its game plan from the second inning on, however. Jets’ starter Trey Johnson started the game on the mound, but felt some discomfort and was removed from the game after pitching 1 1/3 innings.
Paradise was then brought in and finished the game, throwing 6 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out seven.
“Jackson Paradise is a baseball player. He is bulldog on the mound, a gamer. Although I like to have him at shortstop, as you saw, he can pitch too,” Long said. “Him beating out that infield hit with two outs in the seventh just epitomized this team. We preach to never give up and always hustle, and tonight we did that.”
