By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — Senior right fielder Riley Stokes hit a walk-off single to lift No. 6 Hewitt-Trussville past Gardendale 5-4 in 10 innings Thursday at Phil English Field.
With the win, Hewitt-Trussville wins the Class 6A, Area 12 championship for the second consecutive season. The Huskies (23-6, 6-0) won the area championship last season for the first time since the late 1990s.
Stokes’ single in the bottom of the 10th inning scored senior left fielder DeMarcus Kelly.
Hewitt-Trussville was leading 4-2 heading into the sixth inning when Gardendale’s Dylan Oliver hit a two-run single to tie the game. Kelly was hit by a pitch and stole two bases to get to third base in the bottom of the seventh, but a Will Baumgartner line drive was caught by the Gardendale second baseman to end the inning.
Hewitt-Trussville took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Gardendale error. Gardendale plated two runs in the top of the second, and Hewitt-Trussville junior center fielder Quin Jackson scored in the bottom of the second on a balk. Tyler Tolbert drew a bases-loaded walk in the third inning to push Hewitt-Trussville ahead 4-2.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.