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No. 3 Tunstall’s season came to an end on Tuesday, falling to No. 2 Abingdon in the Region 3D semifinals.
Abingdon moves onto the Region 3D finals Friday, taking on the winner of the No. 4 Christiansburg versus No. 1 Cave Spring game played Tuesday.
Rolling into the top of the sixth, the Trojans got to work quickly with a Peyton Henderson walk to lead off, and a sacrifice bunt from Eben Owen moved Henderson into scoring position with one out.
With a fresh arm on the mound for the Falcons (20-4) following the sacrifice bunt, Carter Richardson found his way on base after reaching first on a dropped third strike — resulting in a passed ball — that allowed Henderson to move up to third. Henderson got the Trojans first run of the game on a passed ball to cut Abingdon’s lead to 4-1.
Tyler Spencer kept the line moving with a fly ball, RBI double, scoring Richardson to cut the deficit in half. Abingdon put the brakes on Tunstall’s rally with a flyout to end the top half.
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Spencer accounted for the Trojans lone hit of the game.
Tunstall attempted to craft up another rally in the top of the seventh, but the Falcons retired the Trojans lineup in order to end the game.
Battling through two shutout innings, it was Abingdon that found its way on the board first. In the bottom of the third, Jett Humphreys loaded the bases with two outs on an infield single. Moments later, Beckett Dotson came in clutch for the Falcons, clearing the bases with a three-run RBI double to center giving them a 3-0 lead. The Trojans got out of the inning with a strikeout.
Keeping with the two-out approach, Daniel Fellhauer scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth, tacking on one more to give Abingdon the 4-0 advantage. Prior to, Fellhauer stole third and originally got on base with a walk.
Raymond Ladd started on the bump for the Trojans. In his final high school start, Ladd went five innings with eight strikeouts, allowing four hits on four runs, with zero earned runs. Mason Lovern pitched one inning in relief.
Dotson got the win for the Falcons after going 5.1 innings with not hits, one earned run, and struck out eight. He would also go 2-3 at the plate. Humphreys finished out in relief with 1.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit with two strikeouts.
Tunstall concludes their 2023 campaign with an 18-6 record, highlighted by winning the Piedmont District Regular Season Championship, their fourth in a six-year span.
The Trojans will lose two players, Ladd and Henderson, to graduation.
