UPDATED: Hornets clinch playoff berth for third year in a row
Apr. 24—DAYTON — Huntsville baseball is heading to the postseason under head coach Justin Jennings for the third consecutive year.
The Hornets rallied for a three-run first inning, leading to a 10-3 win over Dayton. The win moved Huntsville to 7-7 and gave them a chance to finish over .500 in district play.
"It's been an interesting year because we've been really, really good at times and then at times we struggled a little bit," Jennings said. "The last couple of weeks we've swung the bat well and I couldn't ask for anything more going into the playoffs. I'm just happy for them. The first group of kids I got here are now seniors and I'm just happy for the kids, the district and the town."
Huntsville finished the first round of district play with a 3-2 and looked primed for a high seed into the playoffs but things turned.
The Hornets would see back-to-back sweeps to Porter and Kingwood Park and all of a sudden their backs were against the wall. Huntsville was on a four-game losing streak and had to face Lufkin.
After grabbing a win on the road, Huntsville dropped the series and once again saw themselves on the outside looking in at the playoffs.
But things clicked offensively down the stretch. Huntsville traveled to Nacogdoches and grabbed a 13-3 win and found their mojo. Over the last three games, Huntsville has scored 36 runs.
And that carried over. Huntsville's bats erupted against the Broncos for back-to-back singles to open the game and an error scored the first run.
Huntsville continued to capitalize.
The Hornets drew a walk to load the bases and a fielder's choice scored the next run. Huntsville tallied 13 hits in the game but the biggest thing was the strikeouts going down.
Against Dayton, Huntsville struck out five times with no members having multiple K's.
"We've preached plate discipline and to swing at strikes and take balls," Jennings said. "We want to try and get them good hitting counts and drive the ball to the big parts of the park. We did that tonight. They have done a good job of executing what we are trying to do. They bought into what we do. At times, we've been really good offensively. If we can continue to do that we will give some teams some problems."
While the offense has been on a tear, the Hornets pitching staff has tried its best to hold opposing offenses down. Huntsville relied on senior Luke Durham for the start. While his offense gave him three runs before he took the mound, he struggled to find his footing.
Durham's first batter he faced grounded to third baseman Collin Sanders who couldn't corral it and was charged with an error. Two singles saw the Broncos within one after the first three outs.
But he settled in. In Durham's five innings, he faced 24 batters where he allowed five hits, three runs and struck out seven in the game.
After finishing the fifth, Jennings turned to sophomore Colton Gilbert for the rest of the game. Gilbert finished the remaining two innings where he allowed one hit and struck out two.
"Luke wasn't his best tonight but he was still pretty good," Jennings said. "Dayton is a pretty good offensive club and you can't take anything away from them. They've been able to score some runs against everybody in the district. Luke, Colton and Collin have all been solid for us all year. They all bring different things and they go out there and compete with confidence. It's good when you are making routine plays."
With a playoff spot locked up, Huntsville still has one more game left to play. The Hornets will wrap up their season on Friday at Kate Barr Ross Park, where they will celebrate their seniors.
The Hornets will face off Friday at 7 p.m. against Dayton and will have the opportunity to finish the season above .500 in district play.
"It's senior night and we want to get all our seniors in but we want to win," Jennings said. "I don't want to go into the playoffs having lost a game. It's huge to have the possibility to get the win and get to 8-7 in district. We are gonna stay on them because it's very important to go in with a win.
