Darton wins two, needs one more to punch ticket to Junior College World Series

ALBANY — Mike Huggins just wanted to put the ball in play.

But the sophomore shortstop’s hard-hit ball with the bases loaded was more than just a routine single. It sailed over the fence in left center field to break open a tight game as Darton State whipped Dyersburg (Tenn.) State in an elimination game of the East Central District Tournament on Saturday.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Huggins said. “I just put a good swing on it and let it ride.”

The Cavaliers topped Walters (Tenn.) State 6-3 earlier in the loser’s bracket, then hammered the Eagles who had been unbeaten in the tournament.

Darton’s two victories on Saturday means they will need to beat Dyersburg in the tournament championship game today at noon with a trip to the Junior College World Series on the line.

After the Cavaliers lost to Walters State in extra innings in the tournament opener on Wednesday, they won three games in the loser’s bracket to set up a winner-take-all championship game.

“That first game we lost was hard,” first baseman Tyler Morris said. “But after that game, we just said we’ll get them and take one game at a time. We beat South Georgia, then Walters State, then Dyersburg. I don’t know if we expected that to happen, but we’ll take it.”

The Cavaliers jumped all over Dyersburg, using back-to-back RBI singles from Morris and Huggins to plate a pair of runs. But after the Eagles cut the deficit in half in the second inning, the Cavaliers struck for three more in the third on a solo homer from Denzell Gowdy, an RBI single from Landon Crowder and a run courtesy of Matt Harman’s sacrifice fly.

But the Eagles came back with a four-run fifth to tie the game at five before Darton rallied for three more runs to reclaim the lead at 8-5 on an RBI single from Morris and a single from Harman that plated two runs.

Dyersburg, however, trimmed the gap to 8-7 to chase starter Rabon Martin. But reliever Zach McCurry retired the final two outs in the sixth, then pitched three scoreless innings of relief.

“That’s a story in itself … Zach has battled some adversity here and he came in and had as good of a pitching performance as we’ve had all year,” Hemmings said.

McCurry kept Dyersburg’s potent offense at bay, while Huggins gave the Cavaliers some cushion.

“That was a lot of fun,” Huggins said. “We got a lot of people on and it seemed like we got every big hit we could possibly get today.”

Crowder’s two-run double in the ninth padded the Cavs’ lead, then McCurry pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning to preserve the victory for Martin, who was the winning pitcher.

Darton rode its momentum from the opener. After the Cavs’ trailed Walters State 2-1 in the second inning, Crowder’s two-run double and Kendall Herron’s RBI single in the fourth gave them the lead for good at 3-2.

Then John Cable broke the game open with a two-run homer, followed by Morris who smashed a solo homer to help Taylor Ferringer earn the victory on the mound.

After a gut-wrenching loss on Wednesday, the Cavaliers are where they want to be.

“Three days ago, I lost sleep and beat myself up because I didn’t go get (pitcher) Jeremy Beasley in the ninth inning,” Hemmings said. “I apologized to the team and told them it was my fault. But to play defense, pitch the way they did and put up 18 hits, chances are you are going to win.”