Kyle Cox is beginning to get paybacks for patience.
After starting as a sophomore, Cox suffered a broken kneecap -- in gym class -- and had to sit out his entire junior season as a member of East Hamilton's baseball team.
No longer relegated to cheering from the dugout or serving as a student assistant, the senior came through Tuesday with a seventh-inning walkoff single to right field, lifting the Hurricanes to a 4-3 District 5-AAA victory over visiting Walker Valley.
"That was great for the team, but it was really neat for him because of what he's been through," East Hamilton coach Steve Garland said. "I'm no medical professional, but I've been told what happened to him (fractured kneecap, torn patella tendon) was really worse than an ACL tear."
East Hamilton head baseball coach Steve Garland points to first base from the mound Tuesday during the Walker Valley game. Pitcher Hunter Smith (15) was not the subject of the comments.A guy coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL also figured in the win.
Sophomore Nick Woods, who suffered the injury in East Hamilton's first football game of last season, came in to pitch in the seventh with the score tied and mowed down the Mustangs -- a grounder to short and back-to-back strikeouts -- to set the stage for Matt Milita, who scored the winning run, and Cox.
"The guys saw what he did and I think it motivated them," Garland said of Woods. "He has started just one game this year -- has pitched mostly in relief. But he's beginning to look like the Nick Woods of old."
With one out in the Hurricanes' last at-bat Milita, the leadoff hitter, reached on a throwing error and promptly stole second. Then a pickoff throw bounded into center field, leaving him camped on third with one out and Cox coming to the plate.
Mustangs coach Joe Shamblin drew his infield in with hopes of a play at the plate, but Cox launched a high and deep fly along the right-field line for the game-winner.
While that hit was the glory-grabber, Garrett Owens alleviated some of the pressure in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly that scored Josh Aslinger, following a Matt Waters sacrifice bunt that pushed two runners into scoring position.
"It's a lot different when you can go into the bottom of the seventh even. There isn't the pressure of going into it being down a run," Garland said.
The back-to-back wins over Walker Valley boosted East Hamilton to 4-2 in 5-AAA, but the outcome was devastating for the Mustangs, who dropped to 2-4 in the district despite a rally to tie and take the lead in the middle of the sixth.
"It's almost like we have jet lag. The last two games we have been lackadaisical," Shamblin said. "We're just not coming up with the big hits. We're starting to hit the ball better, but all year long we've struggled to come up with the big hits. It'll come, but it's frustrating right now."
It wasn't all negative. His pitcher, Elijah Haney, gave up three hits and two earned runs through five innings, Tucker Mendenhall had two hits and scored a couple of runs and Grayson Rountree's 2-for-2 hitting led to a pair of RBIs.
"We just have to keep plugging. We've always been known for being able to hit, and we're going to get through it," Shamblin said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.