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By Scott Vanscoy
The Hurley Tigers punched their ticket to the Final Four with a convincing 7-1 win over the Halfway Cardinals on Wednesday night. The Tigers were led by senior Isaac Carlson at the plate and on the mound, pitcher Chase Simpson. Carlson hit a three-run bomb in the top of the first inning and Simpson took those runs and cruised his way to the win.
With Carlson’s bomb in the first inning, the momentum was definitely in Hurley’s favor.
“I knew that he was going to come with a fastball and so I knew I’d have to be on it if it was there,” said Carlson. “I wasn’t trying to hit a homerun but it just happened. I was just trying to hit it hard. It was huge for us to get those three runs on the board first. I know it was right at the beginning but that’s what really helped us get our momentum going into the rest of the innings of the game.”
Hurley head coach Joey Little wanted to set the tone early and Carlson’s homer did just that.
“It was huge,” said Little. “It set the tone. Isaac came up with two guys on and hit a three run homer. It gave us confidence.”
Hurley got to Halfway’s pitcher, sophomore Ryan Gallivan. With two outs in the third inning, junior Austin Jackson drove in an unearned run, making the score 4-0. With two outs in the fifth inning, Hurley put two on with back-to-back singles by Justin Wilson and William Pope. Jackson roped a double to center field, scoring two runs, putting the Tigers up 6-0.
“Those were really important runs that we scored with two outs, especially when we had no one on base,” said Little. “Jackson has been struggling this year but had a couple of hits today, big hits. Once again, we had someone new come up today, big.”
Halfway had their opportunities throughout the game, but could not capitalize on them. The Cardinals left 11 men on base, nine of which were in scoring position. In the seventh inning, Simpson had reached his pitch count and he was within one strike of finishing the game. Simpson managed to scatter five hits, while walking just two and striking out six.
“I know we have a good defense behind us so I was just trying to pitch for contact and let my defense work behind me,” said Simpson. “I like the fastball, sometimes cutter, changeup, maybe a curveball every now and then. I’m very confident pitching for contact because we’ve always had a good defense behind us. Everyone knows how to play their position and I have confidence they’ll field it and make the play.”
Little tried to get Simpson the complete game victory but had to use his bullpen in the end.
“Oh, what a gamer,” said Little. “His pitch count was getting high in the sixth inning, but he had a quick sixth. In the seventh I think he started out with 97 pitches, he got the first two outs. I think he had three pitches left to get to 105 and he just couldn’t finish the last batter to finish the game, unfortunately. We talked about it today that if somehow he could get us through this game, which we knew he could, he’d have a big opportunity to maybe throw for the championship next Tuesday.”
Halfway did not give up without a fight in the seventh, but it was too little, too late.
“It was just one of those things that we just didn’t get a break,” said Halfway coach Chip Weeg. “We’d get bases loaded and we’d jack one right to them and they would turn a double play or something. We had an opportunity; we just couldn’t get the big hit to fall. Gallivan threw a decent ballgame, a good ballgame. We’ve played pretty solid ball for the last three weeks, we’ve hit the ball well. We just couldn’t get a timely hit or couldn’t get anything to fall. That’s baseball. Hurley has been there, we haven’t. This is the first time we’ve been this far in the state playoffs in 24 years. I’m proud of them.”
On going back to the Final Four, Jackson was ecstatic.
“I feel great; it feels amazing to go back to the Final Four,” said Jackson. “It is amazing, the best feeling in the world. I was confident ever since the season started that we could do it.”
The last play of the game, of course, went to Carlson at shortstop.
“At the end of the game, I wanted the ball hit to me,” said Carlson. “I was going through every play in my mind and what I was going to do if it was hit to me. Simpson was spectacular. He stayed in it the whole game. He kept them scoreless so that was amazing.”
“We’ve been working all year for this, since August 1,” said Little. “We knew we had the potential to get to this point and make it back to O’Fallon. We were there a couple of years ago and what a year we’ve had. This is huge for this town. You can see the fans out there; they love baseball, they love their sports, they came out in droves. I guarantee we’ll have a big showing there next Monday.”
On Monday, May 29, Hurley will take on the defending two-time state champion Bell City Cubs at 4:00. The game will be played at CarShield Field in O’Fallon.
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