YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. --- Jeo Hernandez's two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth rallied 13th-ranked Young Harris to a thrilling 14-13 win over Tusculum Tuesday afternoon at Zell Miller Field.
The contest saw five ties and five lead changes as the Mountain Lions (28-7) have won four in a row and nine of their last 10. Young Harris improves to 16-2 at home this year while the Pioneers (11-23) suffer its fourth straight loss.
Hernandez went 4-for-5 with four RBI as Young Harris finished the game with 16 hits to go along with a dozen walks.
The loss puts a damper on the career slugging day for Tusculum redshirt freshman Nick Satterly, whose first two collegiate hits went for home runs as he finished the day with seven RBI. His first career hit was a grand slam, followed by a three-run homer in his next at-bat.
TU plated the first two runs of the contest when the first four Pioneers reached base. Caden Rector led off with a walk, Jake Smith followed with a base hit and Alejandro Ponte tallied a RBI single the Pioneers led 1-0. Jake Absher followed with a RBI single to plate Smith to make it 2-0.
YHC got the first three batters on in their half of the first as Drew Bray walked, he moved to second on Carlos Martans' single and Kade Smallwood drew a walk to load the bases. Jackson Morgan's fly out to center brought home Bray with the first run of the day for the Mountain Lions. But TU starting pitcher Will Webb limited the damage with an inning-ending double play as TU led 2-1.
The Pioneers got the run back in the second when Keygan Miksa led off with a walk and later scored on Ponte's sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3-1.
But in the bottom of the frame, Young Harris responded with a pair runs as Jonny Smith led off with a single and scored on Keypher Conteras' triple. Hernandez would tie the game with his infield single to knot the score at 3-3.
The Mountain Lions too their first lead of the game scoring three times in the fourth as reliever Cooper Emery walked the bases loaded with one out. Christian Ponte took over but he struggled to find the strike zone as Martans and Smallwood drew back-to-back walks to make it a 5-3 game. Payne Ladd went to the mound and Morgan drove in the third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly as YHC led 6-3.
In the top of the fifth, Alejandro Ponte led off with a double and Absher reached on a walk. After strikeout, Jack Gagen was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Satterly, who had gone 0-for-5 to start the season, including four strikeouts, took the first offering and blasted it over the left field fence for a grand slam as the Pioneers regained the lead at 7-6. TU kept on the pressure in the fifth as Caleb Mulcahy singled and Miksa doubled to move Mulcahy to third. Rector would load the bases when he reached on an error. But reliever Brock Parker ended the inning with a double play to keep it a one-run contest (7-6).
Young Harris answered Tusculum's four-run frame with one of their own in the bottom of the fifth utilizing four hits including RBI singles from Hernandez and Bray as the Mountain Lions led 10-7.
Tusculum answered with another four-run inning highlighted by Satterly's three-run homer as the Pioneer retook the lead at 11-10.
Hernandez continued his big day as he belted a two-out, solo homer to tie the game at 11-11.
The Pioneers manufactured a run in the top of the seventh as Smith hit a one-out single and moved to third on Alejandro Ponte's single to left to place runners on the corners. Absher would hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Smith with the go-ahead run as Tusculum led 12-11.
The Mountain Lions would tie the game in the bottom of the eighth as Bray legged out a two-out, infield single to score and Contreras scored from third thanks to a TU error to tie the game at 12-12.
In the top of the ninth, Miksa led off with a single and later stole second. After a strikeout, pinch runner Connor Jurek pinch ran for Miksa. Smith would come throw with a RBI single to center field to bring home Jurek with the go ahead run.
Trailing 13-12, Smallwood led off the frame with a single. Jayden Carbonell-Smith pinch ran for Smallwood at first. After a strikeout, Jack Enrico got aboard with an infield single moving Carbonell-Smith to second. Mason Archie pinch ran for Enrico as Jonny Smith tied the game with his RBI single to left field, driving in Carbonell-Smith with the tying run and moving the Archie to second with the potential game-winner. An infield ground out moved the runners up a base to set the table for Hernandez as he singled to center to drive in Archie with the winning score.
Tusculum accounted for 14 hits on the day as Jake Smith and Alejandro Ponte had three hits each, while Absher, Miksa and Satterly had two hits apiece.
Satterly's seven RBI performance are tied for the third-most in a TU single-game. He also becomes the first Pioneer to have a multi-homer game since Tyler Ranel had two round-trippers at Catawba in 2023.
YHC went through six pitchers with Trey Griffen (3-0) picking up the win. Tusculum utilized seven pitchers with Owen Canter (1-6) being tagged with the loss.
TU returns home this weekend to host Mars Hill for a three-game South Atlantic Conference series beginning with Friday's 5 p.m. opener at Eastman Credit Union Field.
