Look: Andon Petty's walk-off hit lifts Georgetown over Sharyland Pioneer and into 5A baseball state tournament
JOURDANTON, Texas - Georgetown’s Andon Petty had the biggest hit of his career Friday night.
On a 2-1 count Petty ripped a walk-off single in the 10th inning to lift Georgetown over Sharyland Pioneer 2-1 and claim the Region IV-5A baseball championship. The Eagle are headed to Round Rock to play for the UIL Texas state championship at Dell Diamond for the first time since 2019.
“At no point do these guys ever stop playing,” Georgetown head coach Jordan Vierra said. “They are incredibly competitive; they don’t like losing. They are just wave, upon wave, upon wave of different guys trying to get after and get it done. They trust that if they do not get it done the next guy behind them will. I am incredibly excited for these guys, their competitiveness, their grit and the ability to just keep getting after it.”
The two teams were knotted at 1-1 at the end of seven innings, in large part because Georgetown pitcher Jacob Hadden and Sharyland Pioneer pitcher Ruben Lopez were dealing on the mound.
A battle ensued for six innings as Hadden and Lopez controlled the strike zone. Georgetown finally found a way to get a run across in the sixth inning. Lopez issued a walk to senior Landon Hyle, who went on to steal second base. Zack Zavala eventually singled him home to give Georgetown a 1-0 lead.
Sharyland Pioneer scored in their last at bat to tie the game 1-1 and force extra innings. A one-out single by Stevie Quintanilla put the tying run on first, and two consecutive walks by relief pitcher Wade Denton loaded the bases.
With the bases loaded Joshua Benitez was issued a walk to force in the tying run and make it a 1-1 game.
In extra innings each team had runners in scoring position only to have great plays on the field or steady work on the mound get them out of a jam. The Diamondbacks had runners on first and second base to open the 10th inning but the Eagles held their ground and escaped unscathed.
Senior Logan Smith opened the bottom of the tenth inning with a hard single to the outfield, and a sacrifice bunt by Zavala moved him over to second base. Sharyland Pioneer relief pitcher Rene Vela issued two walks to load the bases for Petty. He lined the ball to right field to bring in the winning run and send the Eagle to the state tournament.
“It’s exciting to be going to the state tournament,” Vierra said. “We got to play there in 2019 and it is a pretty special environment. We get the opportunity (during the season) to play a couple of game at Dell Diamond and what it feels like at times, to have the support and see the big sea of blue out there. These guys are incredibly competitive and they have earned the right to go to Dell Diamond, something that we have talked about since these guys showed up in campus.”
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