Kaleb Allbritton pitched Hamilton County to victory against Lafayette on Tuesday. 

MAYO — He wasn’t dominating on the mound, but Kaleb Allbritton sure was effective against Lafayette on Tuesday.

Allbritton pitched six strong innings to help Hamilton County defeat Lafayette 5-4. The Trojans’ ace missed barrels all game as he gave up just four hits and one unearned run in an important District 5-1A game.

“I let my defense play, hit my spots and tried not to do too much,” Allbritton said. “I only ended up with one strikeout — all the other outs were my defense. Without them, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Allbritton was lifted in the bottom of the seventh after walking Joseph Perry to start the inning. The Hornets — who struggled on offense for the first six innings — tallied four runs on just one hit in the seventh to cut the lead to 5-4. They brought the potential winning run to the plate, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

LHS coach Tim Hanson was displeased with Tuesday’s results after playing two good games recently.

“We don’t get the timely hit. We had some bad baserunning early,” Hanson said. “We’re not doing things that I know we have worked on. We beat Madison and played a good game against Bell. We just hit another wall.”

With the way Allbritton was dealing, it looked like Ricky Williams’ leadoff home run might be all the offense the Trojans needed. Williams slammed a 3-1 fastball over the wall in right field for the first run of the game. Neither team scored again until the sixth.

HCHS scored two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh, which proved to be valuable in a one-run win. 

A pair of bunts — a sacrifice from Doug Barker that turned into an error that scored Javy Zamora, and a suicide squeeze from Ben Godwin — highlighted Hamilton’s two-run sixth inning. Zamora lined an RBI single and Allbritton walked with the bases loaded for the Trojans’ two runs in the seventh.

HCHS coach Chris Howard thought his team played well in all aspects of the game, especially on defense. Howard has made some defensive changes recently, most notable at catcher with Bailey Jones starting behind the plate.

“The past three or four games, we’ve put it together,” Howard said. “Bailey Jones at catcher has helped us out tremendously.

“Kaleb has pitched well all year. Right now, he’s our horse and we’re riding him.”

After giving up the early home run, Lafayette starter Zach Yeager found his groove. He pitched six innings and didn’t allow an earned run after the first to keep LHS in the game.   

If Lafayette defeats Jefferson County on Thursday, there would be a three-way tie for first place in the district. The seeding for the district tournament would then be decided by a coin flip.

Hamilton County returns to action Friday with a home game against Union County. The District 5-1A Tournament begins May 2.