Garrett Hamilton’s heroics lift West Plains over Hereford in 11-inning thriller

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The West Plains Wolves took down the Hereford Whitefaces 9-8 in extra innings on Friday night.

With West Plains down 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Garrett Hamilton crushed a three-run shot to tie things up at four.

In the top half of the very next inning, Hereford answered back. The Whitefaces loaded the bases and Javen Lopez drew a walk to give Hereford the lead right back. Then, Ethan Subealdea knocked a base hit into the left centerfield gap. One run scored, but Hereford got thrown out at home trying to get another one on the board.

Down 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, West Plains went to work. It was Ethan Bentley who knocked the game-tying RBI single into left to send the game to extra innings.

The scoring stopped until a wild eleventh inning. In the top half, Hereford’s Carlos Duran blasted one over the fence in left field for a two-run homer. West Plains went into the bottom half of the inning down 8-6, but that’s when they made some magic happen.

Bradley Cepeda started things off with a triple to spark the comeback. He scored on an ensuing error from Hereford’s second baseman to bring West Plains within one. Then, with two outs in the inning, Ethan Bentley grounded an RBI infield single up the middle to tie the game. The next batter, Garrett Hamilton lined a single down the left field line and West Plains walked off with a win.

“I was honestly just trying to put the ball in play.” Hamilton said of his walk-off winner. “I wasn’t trying to do too much. Bases were loaded, I was just trying to win the game.

“I mean, like, there’s nothing like it.” Hamilton said of the euphoric feeling after celebrating with his teammates. “There’s really nothing like it.”

With the win, West Plains moves within a game of Hereford for the final playoff spot in the district.

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