Late surge propels Hawks to crown

TIM PEARRELL

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Almost three weeks ago, the Hanover baseball team stood in the outfield at Mechanicsville High talking about another loss and how to get some consistency.

The 5-3 setback was the Hawks’ eighth of the season after going 36-5 the previous two years while winning the Class 4 state title and finishing as the runner-up.

“We were pretty down in the dumps,” second baseman/pitcher Cole Elrod said.

They were back standing in the outfield at Mechanicsville on Thursday, this time passing around the Region 4B championship trophy and smiling and taking lots of pictures.

After a season of highs and lows, the Hawks found something at the right time, capping a run to the region title by scoring four times in the seventh inning to take a 7-3 victory over host Mechanicsville.

Hanover (16-8) will play host to Region A runner-up Jamestown on Tuesday in the state quarterfinals. Mechanicsville (19-4), which had a 15-game winning streak snapped, will travel to Region A champ Smithfield on Tuesday.

“The goal wasn’t always to win a regional championship,” said Elrod, who was doused by his teammates during an interview.

“It was just to get better and better day-in and day-out. This team, we started off hot, got cold, and we’re here. We never stopped, and that’s what I love about this team. We just don’t stop. We just keep playing.”

From one of the area’s all-time top teams, Hanover lost 15 seniors and all but two starters – Elrod and Nolan Williamson. That squad included one pitcher who was a fairly high draft pick (Seth Keller, sixth round by Atlanta), another (Levi Huesman) who could have been, and a third (catcher Cannon Peebles) who was considered a possible late-round pick. Huesman and Peebles weren’t drafted and went to Coastal Carolina and N.C. State, respectively.

The Hawks started this season 6-0, then lost five straight games, a streak coach Tyler Kane said was a school record.

They were 11-8 after a second loss to Mechanicsville. The switch flipped after that, when Elrod said the Hawks focused on doing the little things.

“The last couple of weeks, we’ve let the seniors write the practice plan,” Kane said. “We’ve let them take ownership of this program. We’re going to go as far as they take us.”

The positive was all the losses were to high-caliber competition. Kane said that helped prepare Hanover for the regional. It reached the final with 11-1, 10-1 and 11-1 wins.

Trailing 3-1 in the fifth, the Hawks tied the game on Elrod’s RBI single and Booty Simons’ RBI double down the right-field line that just eluded diving right fielder Andrew Farrar.

Two walks and Simons’ single loaded the bases to start the sev- enth. Brady Elrod, Cole’s cousin, walked to force in the go-ahead run. Darryl Husband’s sacrifice fly made it 5-3, and T.J. Woodson capped the surge with a two-run single.

Cole Elrod threw three shutout innings in relief of starter Evan Nix. He stranded the go-ahead run at third in the sixth with a strikeout, then struck out the final two hitters in the seventh, setting off a dogpile.

Williamson had three hits, an RBI and a walk. Woodson and Simons had two hits, and Elrod had a hit and two walks.

“Cole started off the year a little bit slow, but the last six or seven games he’s one of the hottest hitters in the state,” Kane said.

Aaron Maxie had a hit and a walk and drove in two runs for Mechanicsville, which was limited to four hits.

“We knew there would be ups and downs,” Kane said. “These guys figured out a way to battle. They figured out a way to get tougher in the box, and they played for one another. It was really special to see.”