By Chris Yow

SPRING HILL — Summit scored a single run in each of the first three innings, but it was a two-spot in the bottom of the sixth that propelled the Spartans to a 5-4 District 11-AAA win over Spring Hill on Thursday.

With his team trailing 4-3 in the bottom half of the sixth, Cameron Lee notched an RBI single to tie the game, and later scored on a passed ball that would prove to be the winning run. Lee was 2-for-3 in the game at the plate, and scored two runs for Summit.

Austin Kincaid then shut down the Raiders with just nine pitches in the top of the seventh to seal the win. He struck out two hitters and forced a Brantly Whitwell ground out to end the game.

Spring Hill left 12 runners on base, including three strikeouts with the bases loaded.

“That’s the tale of the tape tonight — runners left on base,” Raiders coach Paul Lamm said.

Summit took an early lead in the first inning when Austin Kincaid singled, moving Logan Franzoni to third base. Kincaid then drew a pickoff throw from Spring Hill pitcher Luka Boylan and was able to stay in the rundown long enough for Franzoni to cross the plate. They added to the lead in the second on a perfect bunt by John Dippold that scored Lee.

Both teams’ starting pitchers worked the edges of the zone early in the game. Spring Hill’s Luka Boylan only issued two walks through five innings of work, but it was the walk to Max Fell that eventually led to the tying run on Lee’s single. Fell stole both second and third bases to get himself into scoring position.

“That’s what you get from Luka,” Lamm said. “He gets a lot of movement, and he can throw ball-ball, then strike-strike-strike. He had his breaking ball working and he gave us a chance to win. That’s all we can ask of him.”

Devin Thrain started for Summit (9-7, 7-1), and went three innings with six strikeouts and an earned run. He worked out of trouble in the second inning when he got Brandon O’Brien to swing and miss with the bases loaded. He was replaced in the fourth by Franzoni, who also went three innings. He struck out five Raiders, including O’Brien to end the fifth with the bases loaded again.

Spring Hill did recover, however, to take the 4-3 lead in the sixth when Nathaniel Huntzinger singled home Dawson Hargrove. Luka Boylan singled home Jackson Marbet to tie the game at three in the fifth.

Spring Hill drops to 3-10 (2-6) on the season with the loss, something Lamm said he was not expecting following the hot start his team got off to before the 2020 season was shut down.

“We have to focus on the positives right now,” he said. “We are still working on some things, and we just keep telling our guys that the record is what it is, but we have to get better.

“We’ve been saying it for years, ‘Only May matters.'”

SH 001 111 0 — 4 6 2
Su 111 002 x — 5 5 2

Photos by Chris Yow / SM-Tn Sports