Gillentine's walkoff hit lifts Amory over Boonville in Game 1
May 2—HAMILTON — Seniors stepping up in big moments has been a staple for the Amory Panthers all season, and Tuesday night's Class 3A second-round game against Booneville was no different.
With the score tied 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Corbin Gillentine laced a walkoff single to center field to give Amory a 6-5 win in Game 1.
"The previous at-bats, he started me off with a curveball first pitch every time, so I had a feeling it was going to come," Gillentine said. "If it was in the zone, I was going to try and put the bat on it. With the outfield and infield in, I just knew I had to barrel something up and hit it hard."
The Blue Devils took a 3-0 lead in the first after Jack and Ben Sandlin hit an RBI single and double, respectively, and Zion Young added to Booneville's lead in the third with an RBI double. Amory battled back in the bottom of the third to tie things up at 4-4, starting with a leadoff walk by Cayden Smith and a double by Walker Maranto.
"I told the guys that we'll figure out what we're made of when we went down 4-0," Amory coach Chris Pace said. "Against a team like that, you've gotta scratch back and score some runs to get the pressure off of us."
Braden Maranto drove the two runners in with an RBI double, and Jack Howell and Tyler Sledge each followed with RBI singles. Walker Maranto gave Amory its first lead in the bottom of the fourth on a sac fly, but the Blue Devils responded with an RBI double from Jacob Matthews to tie the score at 5-5.
After holding Booneville with two runners on in the seventh, Ty Hester and Bryce Glenn picked up back-to-back base hits to start the bottom of the inning. Gillentine took full advantage of the moment by drilling a liner to center field to score the game-winning run.
"Corbin needed that," Pace said. "He's a leader, and I'm proud of him for stepping up in that big moment."
Extra Bases
Big Inning: Down 4-0 in the third, Amory tied things up in the bottom of the inning after a two-run double from Braden Maranto and RBI singles by Howell and Sledge.
Big Stat: Along with the walkoff hit, Gillentine finished 3 for 4 at the plate for the Panthers.
Coach Speak: "We talked about wanting to start early and often, and our guys bought into that and executed. I thought we did enough offensively, but Amory just got one more hit than we did." — Booneville's Andy McGregor
