CHANDLER, Ariz. — The Hamilton Huskies baseball team remained undefeated at home, rallying to beat the Desert Vista Thunder 7-6 in extra innings.

 

Despite starting slow, Hamilton was able to score six straight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take their first lead after being down 4-0 early on.

 

Desert Vista had controlled the game with stout defense. However, two base hits by the Huskies' Will Maxey and Isaiah Adams set up Dustin Bermudez for a double, Maxey and Adams both scoring off the hit.

 

Up next was Michael Brueser, who hit a double that led Bermudez to score and cut the lead to one. However, the Huskies were not done, After a series of steals and scores, Britt Graham capped off the fifth inning with a line drive that split center and left field gave Hamilton a 6-4 lead going into the sixth.

 

Desert Vista refused to give up and continued to battle it out with Hamilton, scoring twice in the top of the seventh, tying the score at 6. 

 

After the Thunder held their ground against a bases loaded sitiuation in the bottom of the seventh, however, they were unable to keep up in the top of the eighth as Hamilton got three outs in a row.

 

The game ended with a walk-off base hit from junior JD McLaughlin that brought Bermudez with the game-winning run to seal the Huskies’ victory.

 

Although McLaughlin had the game-winning hit, it was undeniable that they had to come together as a team to win.

 

 “It felt good to come back as a team,” McLaughlin said. “After battling it out all game, we all came together to fight back.”

 

The Huskies are more than familiar with having to come back from behind and take the game to extra frames, according to head coach Mike Woods.

 

“This is the fourth comeback and the third overtime game we’ve had and our boys have been there the whole time continuing to compete,” Woods said. “It all started from the bats by Maxey and Adams to get us going, and then we knew we were in business.”

 

It was a nail-biter throughout the whole back-half of the game, both teams as close to the dugout fence as possible, cheering their teammates as loud as they could after every single pitch although the Huskies emerged victoriously.

 

“It was a confidence builder,” Desert Vista Head Coach Cody Brassfield said. “Our kids played tough and fought hard. We just had a couple mistakes and couldn’t hang on.”

 

Both Hamilton’s starting pitcher Shane Murphey and Desert Vista's Eliy Ankeney had a combined 11 strikeouts before Ankeney was switched out during Hamilton’s fifth-inning comeback.

 

Murphey continued to play through the end of the sixth until Hamilton brought in their closer, Kyle Ponzo who pitched the rest of the game.

 

Hamilton’s record improves to 11-4-1 and 7-0-1 when playing on the Huskies’ field, while Desert Vista falls to 10-5 on the season.