Perry blasts Vikings into 2nd round with walkoff winner

By CHRIS GIROUARD Special to the Times-Herald HAMPTON - Needing a big hit deep into extra-innings, Northgate designated hitter Spencer Perry used the only thing he could to help his teammates pull out a sweep against Region 4-AAAA champion Lovejoy. Perry smashed a 10th-inning fastball from Wildcats' reliever Brandon Chisholm well over the 330-foot fence in right to give Northgate a 3-2 walk-off win, while capping off a first-round Class AAAA series victory.
'I was just looking fastball,' Perry said. 'I got one first and was a little upset that I let it go. But he gave me the same pitch and I didn't miss it.' The Vikings (16-12), entering as the No. 4 seed from Region 3-AAAA, took advantage of a strong pitching performance by Ty Alvey in Game 1. He gave up a late run while pitching a complete-game 3-hitter in an 11-1 Northgate victory that lasted only six innings. Continuing its momentum from last week's big region series win over Union Grove to reach the state playoffs, Northgate took advantage of Wildcat errors and passed balls to plate a number of their runs in the opener. But the experience of a three-game upset of state-ranked Union Grove may have paid off most in Game 2, where the Vikings rallied from a pair of one-run deficits to send the game to extra innings. 'It's a great victory for us,' Perry said. 'We are finally coming together as a team. We've got every tool we need. We can go all the way.' Lovejoy never trailed in the nightcap until the Perry's final swing in the 10th and were down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh when second baseman Cody Bevil ripped an RBI single to score teammate Jesse Copeland and force extra innings. The Vikings managed 10 hits off the Wildcats' pitching tandem of Chisholm and starter Xavier Anthony in Game 2, but over 10 at bats. Our hitting wasn't very good all night,' Northgate head coach Greg Hamilton said. 'Then, finally, Perry hit the homerun. A Couple of times we had the chance to win it. But you have to credit (Lovejoy). Thank goodness Perry finally hit one.' Perry finished Game Two 2-for-5 while adding a single in the eighth. Bevil, Clay Thomas, and starting pitcher Robert Massenburg also had two hits apiece. Massenburg pitched six innings as the starter for the Vikings. He gave up eight hits and two walks, but also struck out eight batters and held Lovejoy's No. 2-5 hitters to a combined 2-for-11 effort that included all of his strikeouts. 'Our pitching was pretty good,' Hamilton said. 'We got a good game by Massenburg. He gave us six string innings. We got a couple of good innings out of Matt Farmakis. And Jesse (Copeland) got us a couple of big innings, including a big out with the bases loaded. Lovejoy nearly went ahead in the top of the 10th, loading the bases with one out. Copeland, however, got out of the jam with a strikeout and an inning-ending grounder to first base. 'We had phenomenal pitching,' Perry said. 'Robert got us six strong innings, Farmakis came out and did what he does, and Jesse shut them down. Amazing.' Facing elimination, Lovejoy quickly opened the scoring in the top of the first inning of Game Two with a run, only to see Northgate tie it in the bottom of the second. Thomas led off with a hit, advanced on a Massenberg single and scored on Tyler Bowers' RBI double to left. Lovejoy retook the lead in the sixth inning. Brandon hope singled with two outs and scored on a single by Greg Tyson. The 2-1 score held up until Bevil knotted it in the bottom of the seventh. 'It's been a fight for what seems like a year,' Hamilton said reaching this point in the season. 'Its really only been 3-4 weeks. We've been hanging in there. They keep fighting hard. We knew if we made it we had as good a chance as 32 other teams. Now its 16 other teams.'

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