The Lapel Bulldogs, ranked number one in the 2A coaches poll, traveled to Hagerstown on Thursday, May 22, with a gaudy 25-1 record and riding a 15-game winning streak.
The Bulldogs won every statistical category against the Tri-Eastern Conference champion Tigers except the final score.
Lapel ace Kai Newman and Hagerstown ace Kaagen Kendall threw a pitcher’s duel through five scoreless innings. When Newman left the game after five innings, he had only surrendered two hits — a single to Will Combs in the fourth inning and a single to Will King in the fifth inning — and struck out eight.
Kendall stayed one more inning. When he left after the sixth inning, he had scattered six hits and struck out eleven. The Tiger defense had Kendall’s back all night. Eight Lapel runners reached base, but they could never score.
Daryl Gustin came on in relief of Newman in the bottom of the sixth. The only runner for the Tigers was hit by a pitch and later thrown out trying to steal second. Kaden Hall replaced Kendall at the top of the seventh inning. AJ Nunley and Rylie Hudson collected back-to-back two-out singles before the next batter grounded out to end the threat.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bulldogs quickly retired the first two batters, and it looked like the game was headed to extra innings before Gustin started to struggle with his control.
Ethan Campbell drew a walk, Will Combs was hit by a pitch and Anthony Kelley walked to load the bases. Will King stepped to the plate and took a called strike before Gustin uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Campbell to race home with the winning run.
Tiger head coach Jay Hale said his team never quit. “We told them that if they kept battling, something good would happen,” Hale said. “Pitching and defense kept us in the game until we finally got the break we needed to win it. It was a tournament-type atmosphere tonight that should help both teams prepare for sectional play.”
Lapel (25-2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hagerstown (13-8) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Lapel hits: Nunley (2), Newman, Hudson (3), Ray Smith — Hagerstown hits: Combs, King
A version of this article appeared in the May 28 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.