After a one day postponement from Thursday and a one and one-half hour rain delay on Friday, the Hanover baseball team was anxious to get their Central Region semifinal game against Mills Godwin going. When they finally took the field, the Hawks did not take long to prove how much they wanted the win. With one out in the top of the first, senior Jake Mayers drilled a shot over the 336 marker in right center to push in Jeb Weymouth for a 2-0 Hanover lead.

Eagles’ pitcher Matt Lees next walked Austin Erb and when Laine Denton came to the plate he followed Mayers pattern for success, also nailing a shot over the 336 spot, pushing in Erb for a 4-0 lead. “I saw the fastball coming with the first one so I timed it up and got a pretty good one and hit it hard,” Denton said.

For Hanover head coach Charlie Dragum, it was the kind of offense he has been looking for all season. “We came out and hit the ball and swung it for some power,” he said. 

Though Godwin challenged, they never drew closer than four and Hanover came away with an 11-7 win and the school’s second ever berth in the state championship.

Ironically, while many people around the Godwin program were concerned that the extra day’s rest would enable Hanover to use their ace, Mayers, on the mound, it lesser known seniors Tyler Kane and Justin Thorn who did the most damage to the Eagle’s offense.

As a starter, Kane held the explosive Godwin scoreless through one and one third innings before he got in trouble giving up three hits and a run. When Kane walked Conner Brown in the bottom of the second, bases were loaded and Dragum went with Thorn, who got off to a less than impressive start. Before Thorn could even throw his first pitch he was called for a surprising baulk that put Godwin on the scoreboard.

But Thorn regrouped and closed out the inning. He then took down the order in the bottom of the third and turned in a solid performance before being relieved by Mayers in the bottom of the fifth.

“Phenomenal,” was how Denton described Thorn’s performance. “He hasn’t seen a lot of innings but when he does he locks it down. I think he’s only given up two or three earned (runs)…He came in a played the biggest game of his life.”

According to Mayers, Kane and Thorn’s abilities are not secret to their teammates. “Throughout the whole year, Tyler Kane, Justin Thorn, they’ve been stepping up for the team,” Mayers said. “We didn’t expect much from them at the beginning of the year but they proved themselves throughout the year and we’re very comfortable with them on the mound.”

Hanover added to their lead in the top the third when an Eric Mayers single up the middle drove in Erb for a 5-2 margin.

The Hawks then added two more in the top of the fourth.

With two men on and Jake Mayers coming to the plate, Godwin decided to intentionally walk Mayers even though it loaded the bases. Erb came to the plate next and made the Eagles pay, drilling a sharp single up the middle that drove home Thorton Glazebrook and Weymouth for a 7-2 lead.

Godwin answered with two in the bottom of the inning to pull back within three 7-4.

In the top of the sixth, Hanover threatened to blow things open again. A double to right center by Weymouth drove in Glazebrook, and Weymouth came home on a single from Erb. Then it was Jared Lipscombe’s turn, nailing a bases loaded single to right that brought home Jake Mayers and Erb for an 11-4 lead.

Though the old saying goes that it takes a complete team effort to win a game, Hanover personified the remark. Literally every player in the game contributed to the win in some way and Dragum made a point of that following the contest. “Every guy stepped up,” Dragum said. “One guy would let us down and the next guy would step up.”

Even though they possibly faced their greatest fear when Mayers came to the mound in the bottom of the fifth, Godwin rallied in the bottom of the sixth. A double by Reed Gragnani drove in Brown and Kevin Buran’s homer in left brought in Gragnani to bring the Eagles within four 11-7. But the Hawks held on with Mayers closing out the game strong.

Hanover is now one win from matching the 2005 squad, which set the record for the Hawks best season by winning the regional and making it to first round of the state tournament.

“It’s incredible,” Denton said. “We worked four years for it. I look forward to it. Anything can happen. I look forward to the next week coming up.”

But Mayers wants more. “We want to do better than the 2005 team,” he said.

Hanover will take on the winner of the Deep Run vs Thomas Dale game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at RF&P Park.