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POTOMAC PARK — Just when it appeared it may take an error to decide the winner, Hobo’s Luke Campbell erased that thought by lacing a triple down the third base line for the first run of the afternoon in the sixth inning and followed with a towering home run in the seventh to lead Hobo’s to a 6-2 win over the Romney Rippers and give the Hyndman, Pa., team the Hot Stove League Championship.
Pitching took center stage at Hamilton Field on Friday with Hobo’s Corey Shroyer allowing two hits over the first four innings and Brad Torbet finishing with three hitless innings of relief. The two combined for six strikeouts, with Shroyer striking out the side in the second inning.
Garrett Crawford, who held Hobo’s to three hits in Monday’s 8-3 win for the Rippers, allowed no hits and struck out six through four innings before being relieved at the start of the fifth.
Hobo’s got its first hit in the fifth inning on a Jack Leydig single, and loaded the bases with one out before Josh Crawford escaped from the situation unscathed.
The Hobo’s half of the sixth inning began with a infield single by Shroyer, which brought Campbell to the plate. The lanky catcher had struck out swinging his first two times up, but found every piece of the ball when he turned on the fourth pitch of the at-bat and shot it down the foul line to score Shroyer.
“He’s the team leader, and that’s what he does,” said Eric Torbet, who was filling in as Hobo’s head coach for Terry DeHaven. “Nobody needs to say anything to him. He usually takes care of his problems by himself,” Torbet said when asked if he said anything to Campbell following the two strikeouts.
Brad Torbet drove in Campbell with a fielder’s choice, and later scored on a double by Zach Kendall. Kendall scored on a Jordan Bingman single to give Hobo’s a 4-0 lead after 5 1/2 innings.
The bottom of the sixth went 1-2-3 as Torbet got the No. 2, 3 and 4 batters for Romney on fly outs, and Hobo’s got right back to work in the seventh with a leadoff single by Shroyer. Campbell then blasted a pitch well to the right and beyond the 330-foot sign in left field for a two-run homer that made it 6-0.
Romney’s Shane Barrett, who walked, and Matt Maiers, who was hit by a pitch, started the bottom of the seventh and scored on an error to cut the score to 6-2, but a groundout, a strikeout and a line out to second finished off the threat.
While the series ended strong for Hobo’s (22-3), it got off on the wrong foot.
“I told the kids that we didn’t play our best after the first game,” said Torbet, referring to Romney’s 8-3 win in the first game of the series. “I said all we have to do is play our game and not make any more mistakes and we’ll be OK.”
While Campbell was the hero of Friday’s contest, Torbet said it could have been anybody on the team.
“The thing about this team is that almost every player had a big hit this season,” he said. “It seems like every time we needed someone to come through for us it was a different player making the play. That’s a testament to these players that have been teammates together since they were little.”
Dane Heavner led off the day for Romney (24-6) with a single and made it to third before being stranded. Josh Crawford had the other hit, also a single, in the Rippers fourth inning.
After Romney won game one on Monday, rain interfered with Wednesday’s game and pushed it to Thursday. A bases-loaded triple by Torbet and a Chad Deneen one-hitter gave Hobo’s a 5-1 victory.
It’s the first Hot Stove championship for a Hyndman team since 1995. Many of Romney’s players were on the Culver Design Build team that won last year’s championship over the Cresaptown Eagles.
Chris Appel is a reporter for the Times-News. Write to him at cappel@times-news.com.
Hot Stove
Related Photos
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Hobo’s Restaurant batter Jordan Bingman smacks an RBI single against the Romney Rippers during the sixth inning of the Hot Stove League championship game Friday at Hamilton Field. Hobo’s won the game, 6-2, and the series two games to one. John A. Bone/Times-News
Hobo’s wins Hot Stove League title
Campbell homers, triples in 6-2 victory over Romney
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