Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
MAN Man High School senior Bo Thompson turned in a dominating performance when the eighth-ranked Hillbillies needed it the most.
Taking to the mound for the final time in the regular season, Thompson struck out 13 and allowed only one hit as Man defeated Tug Valley 8-0 Wednesday evening at William “Tootie” Carter Athletic Field.
Dominant from the first pitch, Thompson retired the first nine Panthers in order, striking out six of the nine and didn’t allow a hit until Julian Vance singled leading off the fourth inning for Tug Valley.
Thompson needed just 78 pitches, 60 of which were strikes, and drove in a run with a first inning single, which was all the run support he would need as Man snapped a three-game losing and improved to 14-9.
Coming into Wednesday, Man had lost four of its last five games with two of the losses coming in extra innings and one in the opposing teams final at bat, however despite the recent struggles, Man received good news Wednesday afternoon concerning its postseason placement.
The Hillbillies earned the top seed in the Class A Region IV Section 1 tournament set to begin Monday, but most importantly, Man was voted as the top seed in Region IV and has secured homefield advantage for games one and if necessary game three of the Class A Region IV championship series should the Hillbillies win their section.
Cam Gerace had one hit and two RBIs and Landon Cantrell as well as Thompson each had one hit to go along with one RBI to lead Man at the plate.
Thompson singled in the first to start the scoring for Man and Gerace added an RBI fielder’s choice to put the Hillbillies on top 2-0.
In the third, Landon Cantrell flew out to left to score Luke Haney and give Man a 3-0 lead.
Man would plate four runs in the third and finished the scoring with one run in the fourth.
Gerace singled and Braxton Messer scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. Haney scored on an error to increase Man’s lead to 6-0 and Noah Maynor stole home to give the Hillbillies a 7-0 lead after three.
Gavyn Cline scored on an error in fourth for Man’s final run as the Hillbillies led 8-0 after four.
Gage Whitt allowed seven runs on five hits in two innings. He struck out one and walked four and was the losing pitcher for Tug Valley (12-14).
Cline had two hits and scored two runs while Messer had two hits and Haney scored twice for the Hillbillies.