The Chillicothe High School Baseball team took down Cameron 6-5 in the 8th inning on Wednesday night for its third straight victory. Hagan Atchison made a diving play in center field for the final put out of the game on a ball that would have certainly tied the game, and possibly won the game, for Cameron if it had fallen.
Cameron got out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single from Alec Leazenby. Chillicothte then responded with a five run top of the 2nd inning highlighted by four walks. Hagan Atchison and Gabe Hansen each tallied RBIs in the inning.
The Hornets held onto the 5-1 lead for most of the remainder of the game. The Dragons started to chip away in the 5th inning when Brycen Bennett was hit by a pitch that scored Reid Smith from third base to make it 5-2.
The game got all the way to the bottom of the 7th inning when Cameron came to bat down 5-2. The Dragons turned on their bats at the right moment scoring three quick runs to force extra innings.
In the top of the 8th inning, Chillicothe had runners on the corners and a balk from Dragons pitcher Gannon Hamilton scored Kaden Cranmer from third to make it 6-5.
With two outs in the bottom of the 8th, Cameron senior Graden Hammond hit a shot to center field that would have scored Sam Erickson from second and could have possibly scored TJ Best from first if it had fallen. But Hagan Atchison made an acrobatic diving catch to seal the victory for the Hornets.
Chillicothe improves to 4-4 on the season and returns to action on Friday at 10 am for the Marshall Tournament.
