BASEBALL: Buffalo Gap downs Page

HARRISONBURG — Buffalo Gap rode two late-inning bursts at the plate, pulling away from Page County in the fifth inning for a 4-2 win, advancing to the Shenandoah District tournament championship game.

Page County got on the board first in the third after Josh McDevitt walked Brandon Hensley to start the inning.

Kenny Deavers’ single drove him in.

Both of the Panthers’ runs came off of leadoff walks from McDevitt, his only two walks of the game.

Gap struck for two runs and the lead in the fourth inning.

With two outs, Boone Jones singled to first base.

Nick Corbin fought long and hard in the next at-bat before walking, giving the Bison all the momentum they needed.

“Nick Corbin really got us started,” Gap coach Chad Coffey said. “I saw the momentum shift when he hit that foul ball down the third base line. I was down here and just heard the dugout come alive.”

Lance Hanger and Travis Ashby followed Corbin with consecutive RBI

singles.

The Bison took two more in the fifth when T.J. Cupp walked to lead off. A batter later, Ryan Sheridan hit a no-doubter to left field to clear the bases.

The momentum continued to favor the Bison in the sixth inning as a controversial call all but sucked the air out of the Panthers while giving it to McDevitt to take out on the mound in the seventh.

After C.J. Secrist reached on an error by Boone Jones, cleanup hitter Jarred Thomas hit a fly ball to deep center field that hit off the top of the wall.

Ryan Sheridan kept the ball from going over the fence throwing it back

into first.

Thomas overran first and was thrown out retreating to the bag.

Secrist was called out automatically after the umpires decided that the ball was caught in the air.

“I wasn’t going to complain,” Coffey added. “We knew it hit the top of the wall, but the umpire saw it differently and it went in our favor.”

After the oddity in the field, McDevitt went to work, striking out three of the last four batters of the game to clinch the championship game nod for the Bison.

Buffalo Gap plays the winner of Luray and Riverheads Thursday night at 6:00 at Harrisonburg High School.