Hornets keep focus in reaching sectional

The Advance baseball team had a few things to overcome on the way to the Class 1 District 2 championship Thursday afternoon at Chaffee.

First, backup player Cameron Stevens suffered an injury when he was walking to coach first base and was struck by a player taking a warmup swing.

"It shook the kids up for a while," Advance coach Bob Moses said. "But the kids rallied around Cameron."

Second, the first of a few controversial umpiring calls on the day -- assuming a player had stepped on first base to end an inning before releasing the ball -- left the Hornets befuddled.

"That kind of stuff happens," Moses said. "The umpires have a tough job."

And then there was the opponent: three-time district champion and 2004 state runner-up Oran, with ace pitcher Chase Seyer on the mound.

"He pitched a heckuva game," Moses said. "He had our number. He had us guessing."

But Advance, the top seed, prevailed with the help of two Oran errors to score two runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 2-1 victory that sent the Hornets (18-2) into the sectional for the first time since 2002. They will play Wednesday at Holcomb (14-8).

"The kids did this all year long," Moses said. "They're tough."

Seyer, who allowed five hits, was outdueled by Jeremy Limbaugh, who scattered six hits over seven innings.

"Jeremy has been our big game pitcher all year long," Moses said. "He wants the ball every day. He's rock."

Limbaugh was backed by a defense that made no errors, an important fact in a game where every baserunner became important.

"We talk about that all the time," Moses said. "Defense is going to win for you, and all the kids did the job."

Advance had beaten Oran earlier this year with Limbaugh picking up the win. But the Hornets had lost to Oran in the district title game last year and in the state quarterfinal in 2002.

"Anytime you can even play close with Oran, you should be proud of yourself," Moses said. "They reload year after year, and they have a classy bunch of kids."