PROSPER — Being down 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning with two outs could rattle any player, but Lovejoy‘s Garrett Hutchins wasn’t fazed.
He took a strike, then on the next pitch launched a ball so far over the right-field wall that nearly everyone in the stands rose to watch it sail.
As the senior first baseman rounded the bases, fans released bubbles into the air to celebrate his clutch hit.
Hutchins’ two-run homer provided the spark Lovejoy needed in a 3-2 win over Frisco Wakeland in Game 1 of a Class 5A Division II regional final best-of-3 series Wednesday at Prosper Rock Hill.
“Garrett has waited for that moment his whole life,” Lovejoy coach Ryan Gros said. “He’s worked for it and it’s good to see the resiliency that they have when those moments are up.”
The Air Force signee didn’t stop there.
After a scoreless seventh, the game was headed to extra innings. Wakeland chose to walk Hutchins with two players on base. With the bases loaded, Jayce Seaber, who came in for an injured Lovejoy outfielder earlier in the game, hit a walkoff RBI to clinch the comeback.
“They know how dangerous [Garrett] is, so you know you see that happen, but we’re very confident to find the benefit in everything,” Gros said. “So when things like that happen, it’s next man up. The guy behind him has been waiting his turn for a long time, and he deserved every bit of that.”
Lovejoy (30-6) has now won 24 of its last 25 games, with 21 of those victories coming by at least two runs. Wakeland dropped to 29-7 going into Thursday’s Game 2, also at Rock Hill.
Hutchins got from pitcher Logan Corley, who bounced back after allowing a home run in the second inning. The TCU pledge struck out 11, allowing seven hits and two walks over 7⅔ innings.
Corley walked off the field to a standing ovation.
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