BY LLOYD COMBS
Sports Correspondent
HONAKER, Va. – Honaker flexed its muscle early Thursday night, the way it has all season long in the Black Diamond District.
First-inning home runs by Logan Ball and David Keene sent Honaker on its way to an 11-1 win over the Haysi Tigers in the BDD finals at Harding Field.
Ball followed a leadoff walk to Kevin Lester with a two-run homer high up onto the hillside above the right field fence. After Clay Smith reached on an error, Keene, who hit .517 during the regular season, followed with his fifth home run of the season to stake Honaker to a 4-0 lead before Haysi recorded an out.
“We hit the ball hard early, though we kind of slacked off a little bit after that,” Honaker coach Tom Harding said.
Haysi (11-10) also hit the ball on the nose several times, but managed just three hits off two Honaker hurlers.
“We hit the ball hard a few times, Honaker just played super good in the field,” Haysi coach Dewayne Stanley said. “Honaker is just that good.
“Overall, we played pretty well. I’m about as pleased as you can be and still get beat by 10 runs.”
The game was called in the sixth after a two-run single by Andrew Dye, the fourth time Honaker (18-3) has defeated its longtime rival in under seven innings by the 10-run rule.
Honaker added three runs on just one hit in the third and relied on its defense the rest of the way. Smith made a diving catch of a line drive in the first, robbing Tyler Mullins of a hit, while Keene made a sliding catch in left field to rob Nick Stanley in the fourth.
“We played pretty good defense,” Harding said. “That’s about the best outfield I’ve ever coached, overall, as far as good arms, catching the ball, judging the ball.”
Ethan Childress singled home Mullins with the lone Haysi run in the fourth.
Adam Honaker worked the first five innings to pick up his fourth win in five decisions. Freshman Derrick Murphy worked the sixth.
“His last two outings, Adam Honaker has looked like his old self,” Harding said. “And all year long Derrick Murphy has pitched like a senior, not a freshman.”
In the Region D quarterfinals Tuesday, Honaker will host J.I. Burton, while Haysi will travel to Wise to face J.J. Kelly. Though Haysi is making its 16th consecutive trip to the Region D playoffs, there were no guarantees earlier this season that the Tigers would still be alive this late with a relatively young team.
“Our first goal was to win the district, but when we saw early this season how good Honaker was probably going to be, our next goal was to get to the regionals, and we had to work hard to get there,” Stanley said.
Haysi 000 010–1 3 3
Honaker 513 002–11 8 1
Barton, Blair (1), Edwards (4) and Mullins. Honaker, Murphy (6) and H. Wilson. W–Honaker (4-1). L–Barton (1-2). HR–Ball (Hon), 1st, one on; Keene (Hon), 1st, one on.
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