LYNNVILLE - Sophomore Wyatt Huddleston drove in the game-winning run on Tuesday for Tecumseh and the Braves walked off Heritage Hills 4-3 in baseball.
Huddleston's ground ball to the left side on the infield and a brief bobble allowed junior D.J. DuPont to score. DuPont reached on a leadoff single to start the seventh inning.
"We battled with them right there," Patriots coach Andy Fischer said. "We obviously didn't give the game away, Tecumseh earned it and they're a good ballclub."
It was a sour ending for freshman Peyton Gray, who took the loss on the mound for the Patriots (6-7, 2-4 after pitching a complete-game. He allowed four runs--three earned--on six hits and four walks. He struck out three batters in his 93-pitch outing.
"He did a real nice job, he actually turned into a pitcher instead of a thrower," Fischer said. "The strike zone was pretty tight, he found a way to overcome that and battle hitters.
"He was really good in commanding his pitches and locating, he was really effective."
Heritage Hills loaded the bases in the first on three singles from junior Seth Deom, senior Marcus Becher and sophomore Andersen Smith. An error allowed Deom to score, giving the Patriots an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half, DuPont singled and scored on Huddleston's sacrifice fly, tying the game at 1-1.
The score remained the same until the fifth when senior Conner Anglin and DuPont reached on a hit by pitch and single before senior Dax Bailey hit a two-run RBI single to give the Braves the edge at 3-1.
The Patriots answered in the sixth when sophomores Bronson Pund and Braden Pruitt hit back-to-back one-out singles before both scored on sophomore Alex Bowling's two-run RBI double to center, tying the game at 3-3.
"They're starting to learn that winning baseball games is hard to do," Fischer said. "You have to execute all the little things when the opportunity arises, you have to make plays.
"That's what we did that sixth inning, we got some guys on, ran the bases pretty well. Also got some timely hits there, that's good. That's good momentum, we just have to keep building off of it."
Sophomore Ty Holder earned the victory for the Braves in relief, pitching three innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits with a walk and strikeout. Senior Drew DuPont started the game and took a no-decision, pitching four frames and giving up one unearned run on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
D.J. DuPont finished 3-for-4 with three runs and Bailey went 1-for-2 with two driven in.
For Heritage Hills, Deom went 3-for-3 with a run and Becher and Smith each finished 2-for-4.
"I think they learned a lot from that game," Fischer said. "There were plays here and there within the game on the offensive side of the ball that we didn't execute.
"As well as we did play, we could've played better and if we executed a play here or there, the outcome of that game could've been different."
Tecumseh improved to 8-5 with the victory and the Patriots are scheduled at 6 p.m. today to host Gibson Southern for more PAC action.
Tecumseh 4, Heritage Hills 3
Heritage Hills | 1-0-0 | 0-0-2 | 0-3-11-1
Tecumseh | 1-0-0 | 0-2-0 | 1-4-6-1
LP: Gray, Heritage Hills.
