The Hagerstown baseball team lost its regional championship to Heritage Christian at Plainfield on Saturday, June 6.
Both teams collected 15 hits in the game, but the trend was set on the first two plays. Conner Benson, the lead-off batter for the Eagles, hit a routine ground ball but the Tigers made a defensive error that allowed Benson to reach base. Alex Jackson followed with a hard-hit ball that hit the third-base bag and bounded sideways. The Eagles scored four runs before Hagerstown could get them out.
The second inning was even worse. The first two batters had singles and the third reached on a fielder’s choice when the Tigers tried to throw out the runner at home plate and failed. A walk loaded the bases and the Eagles pushed their lead to 9-0 before Hagerstown finally executed a double play to end the inning.
Hagerstown never quit playing and battled back to pull to within three runs at 9-6 after five innings before eventually losing 15-9.
Greyson Gregory and Jake Meriwether both collected three hits for the Eagles. Alex Jackson and Isaac Marshall each had two hits. Nick Tinkle and Graham Vinson each had three hits for Hagerstown, and Gaige Howard, Jack Rector and Braydon Sanders each had two hits.
Hagerstown head coach Jay Hale gave his team credit for never giving up and playing to the end. “The game did not start the way we wanted,” Hale said. “But I give my kids credit. They fought and fought and never gave up. It would have been easy to give up and end this game in five innings but that is not our nature and never will be. This is a learning experience. We are young and we will work to improve but there is never a guarantee that we will get back here again.”
It was the last game in a Hagerstown baseball uniform for senior Sanders.
Heritage Christian (17-9-1) 4 5 0 0 0 4 2 15
Hagerstown (21-8) 0 1 0 0 5 2 1 9
Heritage Christian hits: Conner Benson, Gregory (3), Jackson (2), Marshall (2), Meriwether (3) Connor Perraut, Sam Sponseller, Austin Wilhite, Blake Williams
Hagerstown hits: Fletcher Callahan, Jaxon Hale, Kaden Hall, Howard (2), Rector (2), Sanders (2), Tinkle (3), Vinson (3)
A version of this article appeared in the June 10 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.