Mount Pulaski wins extra-inning
affair to clinch the Tomahawk Conference Championship
[May 07, 2026]
The Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers won a thriller in extra innings
on Wednesday evening, defeating the Athens Warriors 4-3 in the
bottom of the ninth inning. With the win the Hilltoppers secured the
2026 Tomahawk Conference Championship.
The Hilltoppers were down to their last out in the bottom of the
seventh inning, trailing 3-2, when Preston Cowan hit a ground ball
that was bobbled by the shortstop, allowing Wesley Bobell to score
the tying run.
More late game heroics took place in the ninth inning.
Skyler Durst led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to
center on the first pitch and he was moved to second base on the
sacrifice bunt by Keoni Charron. After Tucker Fitzpatrick flew out
to center, Chase Roberts strolled up to the batter’s box.
Roberts jumped on the second pitch and smacked it to center on the
fly. It fell just in front of the centerfielder, who was charging
the ball. Durst was running on contact and he raced home to score
the winning run.
Besides Mount Pulaski clinching the championship of the Tomahawk
Conference on Wednesday night, the game also saw the return of
junior Aaron Volle, even if just for one at-bat.
“It was great to see him back,” said Mount Pulaski coach Troy
Burgard of Volle. “That was a good mental boost for him and I think
everybody else, to see him out there and to see a light at the end
of the tunnel with his recovery and hopefully we can get him back in
the DH spot soon. I think he’s feeling pretty good so we will keep
easing him back into it.”
Sophomore Skyler Durst came up huge with a hit to start the ninth
inning rally for Mount Pulaski.
“Skyler has had very few Varsity at-bats ever and he came in and
dropped the barrel on it and drove it and got us started,” said
Burgard. “That’s what we needed in that spot, to get the lead-off
guy on and then bunt the guy over. Keoni got a great bunt down to
move Skyler to second and Chase did the job once we got back to the
top.”
Senior Luke Martin tossed just over fifty pitches in the first two
innings, having to pitch himself out of a couple jams early on.
“Martin kinda grinded through the first couple of innings and then
he settled in to give us five-plus really strong innings,” said
Burgard.
Athens took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Martin, who also
issued three walks in the inning along with an RBI single.
Mount Pulaski tied the game in the bottom of the second inning on
two walks and an error.
A double and a single in the top of the fourth inning put the
Warriors back in front 2-1.
Martin led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and after
stealing second, he advanced to third on a ground out by Jaeden
Jackson. Martin scored on a single by Tyler Cross.
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Mount Pulaski was tied 2-2 with Athens until the top of the seventh
inning.
The Warriors used a lead-off triple and a single to take a 3-2 lead
and luckily for the Hilltoppers no more damage was done.
Aaron Volle, who last played in a game on April 6th due to a foot
injury, grabbed a bat in the bottom of the seventh inning to hit for
Durst. It was great to see Volle back in the batter’s box but he
wasn’t given anything good to hit. Volle was actually hit on ball
four and got a free pass to first.
Volle was immediately pulled at first base for a pinch runner,
Wesley Bobell. Bobell rattled the pitcher all the way from first
base and after a wild pitch, he scurried into scoring position.
Bobell advanced to third on a ground out by Charron.
After a meeting on the mound, the Warriors decided to go with a new
pitcher. After two outs, Roberts walked to put runners at the
corners for Mount Pulaski. Preston Cowan was the hero of the seventh
inning when he tagged the second pitch hard towards the shortstop
and he ran just as hard to first. The shortstop bobbled the ball and
Cowan was safe at first as Bobell scored the tying run.
The seventh inning ended with the game tied 3-3.
Roberts breezed through the eighth and ninth innings on the mound
for Mount Pulaski.
The bottom of the ninth could not have been scripted any better for
Roberts. After two outs, with Durst on second, the junior catcher
turned reliever looked at strike one but swung hard at the second
pitch, driving it to center. Durst had a pretty solid lead from
second base and he raced around third and slid into home without a
play at the plate. Roberts’ teammates were quick to run after him in
celebration of the 4-3 walk-off win.
Roberts was the winning pitcher for Mount Pulaski after he threw
three and one-third innings in relief. Roberts allowed two hits and
one run. He struck out six batters.
Luke Martin started for Mount Pulaski and he threw five and
two-thirds innings. He gave up five hits and two runs. He walked six
and struck out eight.
The Hilltoppers had four hits in the game.
Roberts, Martin, Cross and Durst each had a hit for Mount Pulaski.
Wyatt Gleason was the losing pitcher for Athens.
Mount Pulaski (14-7) will play at Pawnee on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
[Teena Lowery]
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