Patriots reach quarterfinals with sweep of Gardendale
The Homewood High School baseball team is heading to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2013 after sweeping Gardendale in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs on Friday night.
The Patriots held on for a gutsy 2-1 win in the first game before blowing the doors off the Rockets in Game 2 to win 12-2.
“I’m so proud of the guys tonight,” said Homewood head coach Lee Hall. “They would not be denied, even when things did not look good in Game 1.”
With the wins, Homewood matched its school record with 29 victories on the year. Homewood will host Cullman in the quarterfinals next Friday.
Game 1: Homewood 2, Gardendale 1 (8 innings)
It took an extra inning, but the Patriots managed a 2-1 victory in the first game.
The only run of the first six innings came via Will Hall’s RBI single in the fourth inning. But Gardendale equalized in the bottom of the seventh, as the Rockets loaded the bases with no outs. They only managed a single run on a sacrifice fly, as Homewood starting pitcher Justin Perreault worked out of trouble with a strikeout and groundout.
Josh Hall worked a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning to put the Patriots ahead for good. Perreault worked a scoreless eighth to get the complete game victory. He allowed just the unearned run on four hits, while walking two and striking out six.
In the game, Will Hall was 3-for-3 while Ben Teel, Michael Kash and Sam Dantone all registered two hits.
Game 2: Homewood 12, Gardendale 2 (5 innings)
Gardendale’s early 2-0 lead would not last long, as the Patriots put up six runs in the third inning and pulled away, enacting the run rule on Teel’s three-run double in the fifth to make it 12-2.
The six-run third inning was punctuated by Dantone’s mammoth three-run home run to left field. Teel and Evan Lemak produced run-scoring hits the following inning to put the Patriots ahead 8-2. Josh Hall’s bases-loaded walk made it 9-2 and set the stage for Teel’s game-ending hit.
Hunter Keim went five innings on the mound, surrendering just two hits and two unearned runs.