Heritage used two strong pitching performances and solid defense to pull off a rare first-round sweep as a No. 4 seed, upsetting host Hampton in the first round of the GHSA Class AAAA baseball playoffs Wednesday.
The Generals, who didn’t secure the final playoff spot in Region 7 until the final regular-season series, got great pitching from ace Zach Barrett and Brady Chandler and a combined 21 hits to win by scores of 11-0 and 5-2 at Region 5 champion Hampton. They will travel to the winner of the Bainbridge/Islands series in the second round next week.
Barrett pitched all five innings of game one and allowed two hits while striking out six batters. J.C. Armour and Barrett led a 15-hit attack with three hits each, with Brady Chandler and Landen Skeen each adding two hits and two RBIs.
Chandler allowed five hits and two earned runs in game two before Jonathan Glover went the final two innings and allowed one hit and struck out three for the save. Heritage (20-12) broke open a scoreless game in the third inning with a two-out rally that started with a two-base error by Hampton (19-11).
Eli Totherow followed with an RBI single, and after a walk, Gage Shaver delivered a two-run single. Cannon Stafford added two hits, an RBI and two runs scored, with Max Owens and Glover adding RBIs.