Trent Begley was still searching for his first varsity hit when he came to the plate in the seventh inning.
Staring at 0-for-12 this spring, the senior finally broke through when Haddon Heights needed him most.
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Begley smacked a two-run single is his fourth plate appearance of the day, helping the visiting Garnets defeat Pennsville, 9-7, in a non-league matchup Friday.
“Started off the season very slow. I was working walks, bunts but hadn’t come alive until now,” said Begley, who pitched but didn’t hit last season. “It’s a great feeling; a great relief to finally get that hit, drive in a run, take the lead. It’s just the best feeling in the world.
“I’ve had the same mindset every time - be on time for the fastball. I just had to simplify things, put my foot down early and put the ball in play. I don’t try to do too much because once you get in your head, it’s over from there.”
“He’s been struggling offensively, he’d be the first to tell you that, but every day he comes in with just a great mindset,” Haddon Heights coach Eric Newell said. “He just battles through, keeps working. It’s so awesome to see him get a big hit there because he deserves it.”
Haddon Heights (6-1) extended its winning streak to six in a row following a season-opening setback against Sterling. Jake Dillon earned the decision with five innings of scoreless, five-hit relief. He struck out four.
The Garnets erased an early three-run deficit with a six-run outburst in the top of the third - all six runs unearned and coming with two outs. Nolan Lachall and Kevin Clark collected back-to-back RBI doubles and Jaxon Motta blasted a three-run home run to highlight the frame.
Pennsville (5-4) would battle back, though, in its half of the frame. The Eagles pushed four more runs across, taking advantage of three hits and three errors to retake the lead.
Lachall would tie things up at 7-7 in the fourth with a solo home run, which ultimately set the stage for Begley’s seventh-inning heroics.
“That’s huge for the team - tie game, seventh inning - that was pretty big,” Motta said of Begley’s hit. “He knows what he’s doing; he’s locked in all the time. He’s always picking his teammates up and I’m just happy for him.”
Lachall was the only Heights batter to collect multiple hits. Richard Farruggia and Ben Alexander scored two runs apiece.
Chase Burchfield went 2-for-3 with a home run for Pennsville, collecting his 100th career hit on a third-inning single. Gavin Spears went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Connor Starn went 2-for4 with an RBI. Jeff Wagner also had two hits.
“These guys battle,” Newell said. “We’ve had a lot of tight games like this one and there’s always good talk within the dugout. Today was a little bit of a struggle, but we don’t have finger-pointing, we don’t have guys blaming other people.
“They understand it’s a long game. They understand the things we need to do. It’s a fun group to coach and they’re also very selfless. Whatever they need to do - need to walk, need to bunt - they’ll do whatever to get the job done.”
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Kevin Minnick covers South Jersey baseball. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kminnicksports