Stanley’s arm, Newell’s bat lift Hickory into semifinals

CLASS 5 REGION A QUARTERFINALS

Hickory1,

Nansemond River 0

Cooper Newell’s single scored Brenden Barnes for the winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning Saturday as the top-seeded Hawks survived upsetminded Nansemond River at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton in the Class 5 Region A quarterfinals.

Drew Stanley pitched a shutout, allowing just two hits with11strikeouts – including nine of the first11 batters he faced.

“When you start off like that, it fires up your teammates. It sets the pace for the whole game and I was trying to get them going, and I think I did that,” Stanley said.

Caleb Pittman pitched six innings for Nansemond River, allowing three hits with five strikeouts.

Nansemond River’s best chance to score came in the fifth, but Malcom Perry was ruled out at home after running into the catcher.

Hickory (20-1) advances to a region semifinal Monday afternoon, when it can secure a bid to the state tournament with a win.

“We had the mentality all week long that we would come out here with the intensity that we’ve had the second half of the season,” Stanley said.

Menchville 4,

Gloucester 3

Anthony Hall, Dawson Guzik and Brandon Rodgers had RBI singles for the Monarchs, who held off the Dukes.

Austin Maxey tossed two innings of shutout relief for Menchville, while Kody Abrisz and Stephen Cook scored a run each.

Brendin Bard had two RBIs and Blake Taylor pitched four innings of shutout relief for Gloucester, which stranded11runners.

Princess Anne 7, Hampton 3

Tyler Horton took a nohitter into the sixth inning, and the seventh-seeded Cavaliers cruised.

Horton pitched six innings, striking out12 while scattering three hits.

Jordan Irizarry smashed a two-run home run in the third inning to give Princess Anne a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, Ryan

Mach’s two-run single scored Nathan Piche and Johnny Scholefield for the Cavaliers, who have won13 of their last14 games.

Brendan McBride and Trey Morgan both drove in a run for the Crabbers, who suffered their second loss of the season.

Princess Anne's Nathan Piche dives back to first base during the fourth inning.