HILLSVILLE — Magna Vista turned a four-run deficit into a three-run lead with a mid-game power surge, immediately lost that lead but scored the winning run on a seventh-inning error to upset Carroll County 8-7 in the opening round of the Region 3D baseball tournament Wednesday at Bill Worrell Field.
With the score tied at 7, two outs and runners on first and second, Justin Compton’s pop-up behind the mound fell to the ground amid miscommunication among middle infielders, allowing pinch-runner Tyler Kalil to score from second with the go-ahead run. Carroll County (12-8) had the tying run on second base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh but Warrior reliever Luke Haynes got a strikeout to secure the win.
Carroll County had seized a big early lead with a four-run third inning, starting with a Mason Crockett single. Gage Nicholson’s sacrifice bunt was thrown away at first, allowing Crockett to score, and Britt Berrier doubled to deep centerfield to drive in Nicholson. Maddox Lyons singled up the middle to score Berrier and another error brought in Lyons for the 4-0 lead.
Magna Vista (14-11) got on the board with Tommy Powell’s RBI single before unleashing a barrage of two-out long balls. Freshman Simeon Moore belted a three-run homer to left-centerfield to tie the game and two batters later, Caleb Denton launched a two-run shot to left for a 6-4 Warrior lead. Blaine Peters added a solo home run in the top of the fifth for a 7-4 lead.
Carroll County managed a two-out rally of its own to tie the game in the home half of the fifth. With the bases loaded, Lyons scored on a wild pitch to trim to margin to two, and a high bouncer off the bat of Mason Crockett ate up the Magna Vista shortstop, bringing in two runs and knotting the game up at 7-all.
The bottom seed in the 10-team tournament, Magna Vista advanced to the quarterfinals where the Warriors will travel to No. 2 Abingdon.
Lyons finished the day 4-for-4 with an RBI for the Cavaliers and Tyler Rakes added a pair of hits. Moore went 2-for-5 with three RBIs for the Warriors, Peters had three hits while Denton added two hits and two RBIs.
