Hamilton advances to Division 3 final

The Hamilton Braves erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to put away the Willows Honkers 13-5 on Tuesday, and then they got some good news.

With No. 1 seed Colusa falling to Durham 9-6 in the other Division 3 semifinal game, Hamilton will now host the championship game on Saturday against the Trojans, tentatively scheduled for noon at Hamilton High School.

The Braves, now 16-7 on the season, played Durham early in the season and won 15-6. However Durham has played well of late, upsetting a Colusa team it had lost to twice in the regular season.

Against Willows, the Braves fell behind 4-0 in the first inning when the Honkers scored four unearned runs. However Hamilton rallied for three runs in the bottom of the inning and two more in the second for a 5-4 lead. After two runs in the fifth, the Braves exploded for six more in the sixth to put the game away.

Brad Lohse, Jamisson Parker, David Sanchez and Kyle La Claire hit consecutive singles to start the inning. A couple of errant throws on steal attempts at second, with a runner at third base, allowed two more runs to cross home.

After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Willows managed to get two outs. But Jeff Cavins brought in the final run of the inning with a ground rule double.

Lohse got the win, giving up five runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and just one walk. Only one of the runs was earned.

The Honkers scored four times in the first frame after Will Clark and Kent Thayer both singled to reach base. After two strikeouts and a walk, Eric Massa hit a grounder to second base that went through the fielder’s legs. Clark scored on the play and Thayer never quit running as he rounded third base to get the second run of the inning.

With runners at second and third, Seth Fleming hit a bloop single to centerfield to bring in two more runs and put Willows up 4-0.

Hamilton countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Parker hit a two-run ground rule double and La Claire hit a sacrifice fly that scored Lohse, who had reached on a single.

Parker blasted a home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. The blast was his second in the playoffs and his fourth of the season.

Pete Knight also scored in the inning on an error.

Willows scored its only other run in the sixth when Brian Wunsch tripled and scored on a groundout.

The Honkers end the season with a record of 8-18.