Hawks Hold Off Belhaven To Be Named Collegiate Conference Of The South Champions
MARYVILLE, Tenn.- Returning to action at the Scotland Yard for the final game of the 2025 CCS Baseball tournament, the #5 seeded Hawks of Huntingdon College looked to pull off the upset, and take the title from the #2 seeded Belhaven University Blazers.
Today's game was the third between the two teams in the tournament, as Belhaven kicked things off for the tournament with a 16-1 victory. Huntingdon then had to climb their way out of the consolation bracket to have a chance, and that they did, defeating the Blazers 2-1 last night to force this morning's elimination game, where the Hawks prevailed, winning 3-1.
How it happened
The bats were hot for the Hawks early, as Huntingdon put two runs on the board early to grab the momentum in the first inning. Sam Kelley got things rolling with a sacrifice fly to deep center-field, bringing home Ty Pruitt for the first run before Dalton Kuhn's RBi single secured a run for Cade Morgan to close the inning. Starting on the mound for the Hawks was Jacob McFarling, and he managed to find his groove early, limiting the #2 seed to just three base hits in the first four innings while striking out five Blazers as Huntingdon remained in control.
Midway through the fifth inning however, Belhaven finally broke through, scoring their first run on a RBI double to cut the Hawks lead to 2-1 heading into the sixth inning. Following the Blazers' run, JB Landrum stepped onto the mound for the Hawks to relieve McFarling. In doing so, Landrum allowed just one base hit in a little over three innings of action to keep Belhaven off the scoreboard. Huntingdon's third and final run came in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Dylan Hyder crossed home plate when Jabez Sampson was walked to bring the Hawks lead to 3-1 before the start of the seventh inning.
After Landrum's exemplary three innings on the mound, it was Brent Cadenhead's turn to close things out, as he picked up his ninth save on the season to move inside the top 5 in all of NCAA DIII in that stat category. In the top of the ninth, Cadenhead allowed just one base hit before retiring three consecutive batters to secure the first Collegiate Conference of the South title for Huntingdon.
In recognition of their performances throughout the tournament, the following Hawks were named to the 2025 CCS Baseball All-Tournament Team.
The all-tournament team as a whole is as follows:
Brent Cadenhead, Huntingdon (MVP)
JB Landrum, Huntingdon
Jable Ramey, Huntingdon
Brodie Holcomb, Huntingdon
Kade May, Belhaven
Lane Alack, Belhaven
Nick Thornton, Belhaven
Tristan Pearson, Belhaven
Matt Hall, Maryville
Xavier Resto, Maryville
Jackson McElvy, LaGrange
Adam Dorn, LaGrange
What's next?
With this conference championship victory, the Hawks have secured an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball tournament. The selection show is set to air on ncaa.com on May 12th, 2025 at 11:00 AM CT.