By Cory Diaz | The Wetumpka Herald

Hunter Bennett wanted to help his team.

And he did.

With one out and two runners on in the bottom of the seventh inning, the junior lifted Chilton County High School to the second round of the Class 6A baseball playoffs with a win on a walk-off three-run home run to right-center field, as the Tigers defeated Stanhope Elmore, 5-4, in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series at Furlow Field in Millbrook.

“I wanted to do what I could for the team,” Bennett said after the team celebrated his homer at home plate. “That’s what I was focused on, really: just helping my team out because I got some bad calls early, but you’ve just got to put it behind you and help the team out.

“It means a whole lot. We get to go to the second round. I just can’t wait. I’m just so overwhelmed with it, but I can’t wait to play.”

Mustang head coach Scott Johnson tipped his cap to Bennett after the game.

“We had two options: We could’ve put (Bennett) on and pitched to the next guy (Trenton Bishop), or we could’ve pitched to the guy we threw to,” Johnson said. “Previous time through the lineup, the guy on deck hit it harder than him. So we went after him, and he hit probably a 350-foot opposite field homer.

“I tip my hat to him.”

Minor led the Tigers at the plate in Game 2, going 3-for-4 with two singles, a double and one RBI.

Minor also pitched a complete game allowing four runs, 10 hits, and recording 5 strikes outs.

Bennett, along with Bishop, led the Tigers in the 4-1 Game 1 victory, both driving in a run on two and one hits, respectively.

Tolliver Gilliland earned the win on the mound, besting his Stanhope counterpart, Mark McGowin, giving up just four hits and striking out four in the complete game effort. In the loss, McGowin allowed four runs on seven hits.

The Mustangs (12-18) built a 4-0 lead in Game 2, thanks to a bases clearing double from starting pitcher Jarrett Houston in the top of the third. The next batter, McGowin, brought Houston home with a ground rule double, putting Stanhope ahead, 4-0.

Chilton County (16-12) got two runs back in the fifth, both with two away, off Gilliland’s sacrifice and Garren Minor’s RBI single, setting up the dramatic finish two innings later.

“Tolliver Gilliland worked hard to get on base; he hit the ball hard,” Tigers head coach Ryan Ellison said. “It’s big to get the leadoff on. That’s what we’ve been preaching all year: battle, never give up. It’s never over until the last out. They kept battling, fighting. Hunter Bennett was due. He’s a big kid, good hitter and he was ready to go. He took care of business.”

Johnson lauded the way his team played but knows the team’s exit from its first trip to the playoffs since 2008 hurts.

“It would to lose any kind of way. You got a two-run lead in the bottom of the last inning, two outs away from it and boom, it’s gone,” Johnson said. “Those are a little tougher, but it makes you a better person to play in those type games. Makes you a better player. Maybe they’ll learn from it.”

Bennett led the Tigers at the plate in Game 1, going 3-for-3 with a single, two triples and one RBI.

Gilliland pitched a complete game, striking out four while allowing one earned run on four hits and three walks.