Hounds nip Saints

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 7, 1999

Huntington High junior Collin Taunton delivered a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to lead Huntington High to a 9-8 come-from-behind win over Trinity in Ferriday, La., Tuesday.

&uot;I knew we needed a base hit,&uot; Taunton said. &uot;He threw me a fastball down the middle. I saw it go up. I was just happy when he signaled home run. I knew then we could pull it out. I think we can go from there. This is what we needed.&uot;

The winning hit was a questionable one, as several players and fans thought the ball bounced over.

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The win threw the district into a three-way tie as Huntington had lost to Pine Hills last week. Trinity defeated Pine Hills earlier.

&uot;That was very painful,&uot; said Trinity head coach David King. &uot;We just can’t seem to get over this Huntington jinx, They have owned us the past several years. We just couldn’t seem to make the little plays. I thought we scored enough runs to win it, but we just have to regroup. All district games are must wins and we must find a way to overcome.&uot;

King would not comment on the home run ball.

&uot;We should have had this game won long before that,&uot; he said.

Huntington improved to 5-10 with the win.

&uot;We showed a little heart for the first time,&uot; said Huntington High coach Charlie Anderson.

Anderson, in his first year at Huntington, said this is by far the biggest win of his brief coaching career.

&uot;I think we can truly say we’re a team now,&uot; Anderson said. &uot;We had some kids come through for us tonight. With this win we control our own destiny, where if we would have lost we would have needed some help.&uot;

Anderson was thinking he needed a lot of help early on after Trinity scored four runs in its first at-bat with Hicks Winters delivering a 2-run home run to key the rally.

&uot;That was tough, especially going against our top pitcher (Barrett Kiser),&uot;&160;Anderson said. &uot;But I’ve said all along our strong point is hitting the ball, even though we really haven’t been. We’re capable of scoring runs. We just hung in there, got us a few breaks and took advantage of them when we got them.&uot;

Huntington answered with three runs in the bottom of the first before Trinity added two in the second for a 6-3 lead.

Huntington scored four runs in the second for a 7-6 lead, two coming on an error and another on a single by Luke Davis.

Trinity added one run in the fourth and fifth, while Huntington scored one in the fifth and sixth.

&160;

double for nine RBI to lead the Hounds to a 14-7 win here Thursday.

Trey Mason picked up the win for the Hounds, who improved to 2-7, playing only their second Class A team this season.

Colin Taunton and Barrett Kiser each doubled, while Luke Davis, Curtis Martin and Eric Smith all singled.

Huntington plays at WCCA Saturday.