HUTCHINSON — Allen Community College had to deal with plenty over the weekend on the baseball diamond.
Thrilling rallies, tense pitching matchups, a few storms.
And heartbreak.
The Red Devil 2021 season came to an end Saturday after Huchinson scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, and once in the 10th on a walk-off home run of their Subregional Semifinal of an 11-10 thriller.
The game had been suspended from Friday night with ACC leading 9-8 after the eighth inning because of weather.
That pushed the proceedings to Saturday afternoon, where the Red Devils tacked on an insurance run on Levi Bennett’s RBI single to score Josh Prinner.
But Hutch, which made it a habit of rallying late through the weekend, did so again against the Red Devils, scoring two in the bottom of the ninth to knot the score.
Allen catcher Lukas Rich threw out a Blue Dragon runner at third base to cut the rally short. Which seemed fortuitous because the runner likely would have scored on a single two batters later.
But ACC came up empty after putting runners at first and third with Prinner’s single and on an error off the bat of Khyle Radcliffe. Prinner was tagged out attempting to score on Lucas McCain’s grounder to third.
A strikeout ended the inning.
That set the stage for Hutchinson’s Tyler DeLong who smacked a solo home run with one out in the bottom of the 10th to end Allen’s season at 33-17.
THE CONTEST was filled with wild momentum swings from start to finish.
Allen spotted the Blue Dragons an early 2-0 lead before Damon Burroughs doubled and scored on Radcliffe’s ground ball in the second. Colton Patterson’s single sent Prinner home to make it 2-2.
Hutch retook a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the inning, but Patterson started the third by being hit by a pitch. He advanced to third on Jonah Weisner’s single, and then scored after Weisner bluffed a stolen base, prompting the Blue Dragon catcher to throw to second. Patterson scampered home before the Blue Dragons could respond.
Allen trailed 4-3 before rallying for five in the top of the fifth.
Rich seconded before Alec Roberts and Durroughs walked to load the bases. Prinner’s walk allowed Rich to saunter home to tie the score, before Radcliffe smacked a two-run double to push ACC in front. Prinner was safe at the plate on an infield grounder, and Weisner’s sacrifice fly pushed Allen on top, 8-4.
But a common thread followed in the late innings in that ACC left several key runners in scoring position, including a runner at third in the fifth.
Rich started the sixth by reaching on a dropped third strike, and Roberts singled and Burroughs walked to load the bases with nobody out. Radcliffe’s sacrifice fly scored Rich to make it 9-5. But again, runners were stranded at second and third when the rally ended.
