Recap

POTTSTOWN >> It went from elation to deflation, back to elation and back to deflation.

But The Hill School got one final moment of elation Wednesday … the one that counted most in a 15-14 extra-inning win over Blair Academy.

In a game with more ups and downs than a supercharged yo-yo, the Blues battled back from the low moments to claim the ultimate high of victory over their Mid-Atlantic Prep League guests. In the process, they ended a three-game slide and came away with a ton of momentum.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence that a 1-5 team doesn’t deserve to have,” head coach Chris Drowne said after the dust settled.

In keeping with the overview of the contest — loose play on the field, timely hits at the plate, solid pitching efforts undone by the first two conditions — the scenario of the winning run was a microcosm of the afternoon’s proceedings.

Luke Allain, Hill’s third pitcher and eventual winner, reached base when his hit to third was misplayed to start the eighth inning. Jack Hogan then drew a full-count walk, and Max Putt smacked a line drive that got knocked down by Blair reliever Kyle Walker. Walker opted to go to third on the force, but his relay was mishandled and went into foul territory, enabling Allain to bring the game to a happy conclusion for the Hill.

“Even when they got way up on us,” Drowne said of Blair, which erased six- and four-run Hill leads during regulation time, “the kids never doubted they were in over their heads.”
Not after the Blues, who jumped on Blair for six runs in their first at-bat, saw their guests plate nine in the top of the third on the way to a 10-7 lead after four. And not even in the seventh, when the locals saw a 14-10 lead erased by the Buccaneers when they needed just two outs to nail down the win.