Honaker thumps Haysi to clinch BDD

By LLOYD COMBS
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

May 09, 2008 10:34 pm

— HAYSI, Va. — Run-rule games have been rare between Honaker and Haysi.
This year they’ve been the rule, not the exception.
Clay Smith and Fisher Wilson each drove in three runs as Black Diamond District champ Honaker routed longtime rival Haysi, 15-3, Friday night at Flanngan Dam.
Honaker (15-2, 8-0) clinched the district regular season crown on Tuesday and completed a sweep through the BDD with Friday’s five-inning win, the third 10-run rule win over Haysi this season, including both district encounters and an early-season tournament game. It’s a testament to how good the Honaker Tigers are this season, says Haysi Tigers coach Dewayne Stanley, whose club, along with Honaker, have finished 1-2 in the BDD for 16 consecutive seasons.
“They’re just a lot better ballclub than we are,” Stanley said. “They’re probably one of the three or four best teams in the area.”
Honaker bunched hits in two innings, a 5-run second and an 8-run fourth, to put the game away.
“We’re the streakiest team I’ve ever had,” veteran Honaker coach Tom Harding said. “Sometimes we lose focus. But this club has as much talent as any team we’ve ever had at Honaker, and it’s a great bunch of kids to work with.”
Smith hit a two-run double and Wilson clubbed a two-run homer in the second. Honaker took advantage of five Haysi errors to score eight runs in the fourth. Winning pitcher Logan Ball had three hits for the Tigers.
Haysi took advantage of two Honaker errors to get within 5-2 in the bottom half of the second.

Honaker........................050 82 — 15 16 2
Haysi............................020 10 — 3 6 6
Ball, Murphy(5) and H. Wilson. M. Yates, Blair (4) and Mullins. W-Ball. L-M. Yates. HR-F. Wilson (Hon) 2nd, one on.