By Jon Akre

 605 Sports

But through eight innings, it didn’t look like a walk-off was needed for another Tomato victory.

Heading into the ninth, Platte led 2-1 with its closer Grant Doom on to slam the door.

But it took just two batters for the Angels to tie the game, with a Tyson Gau lead-off triple, followed by a Jordan Gau RBI-groundout.

“Grant down the stretch here has been our rock really,” said Hewitt. “He beat Alex in the districts there and then obviously he did to the Mudcats and that’s two pretty legendary State B baseball programs.”

The very next inning, the catcher Hewitt picked his teammate up, launching a lead-off homer over the 340-foot left field fence.

“When you play at Cadwell you know there’s some hard hits that don’t happen to leave,” said Hewitt. “And they had a couple tonight and even the Mudcats the other night, but that’s the beauty of playing in Cadwell.”

The walk-off homer meant a lot not only for the Tomatoes, but also for Hewitt, who had been struggling at the plate the latter half of the season.

“Before the state tournament I texted Boot (Michael Buitenbos), I said ‘Hey if you have to move me, move me’, I haven’t been doing it, I haven’t been getting it done,” said Hewitt. “My batting average has dipped below .250, I’m typically around a .300+ hitter. I don’t know, I’ve felt like I needed that for a long, long time.”

Buitenbos was also a key part of the victory for the Killer Tomatoes, going eight strong innings against a tough Alexandria team, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks, including a season-high eight strikeouts.

“We were talking about who we were going to start tonight, had a couple other guys in mind, but he called me this afternoon and said ‘I want them,’ ” said manager Todd Strand. “So we let him go and he threw a good game.”

Buitenbos was getting it done on the mound and at the plate in the victory, driving in a run on a key two-out hit to take a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning.

“That’s our leader, we’re not the KT’s without Mike,” said Hewitt of Buitenbos. “If he was to not be here for whatever reason, I don’t know what we’d do without him, I really don’t. He leads with passion every single game, treats everybody like he loves them, and this is his ball club.”

Oddly enough, this wasn’t the first time these two teams have faced off at the state tournament, just two years ago it was Alexandria getting the one-run victory over Platte to advance to the quarterfinals. Now, things have come full circle for the Killer Tomatoes.

“Hats off to Alexandria, they’re a great team all-around,” Strand said. “Hate to lose another Sunshine League team out of the tournament, but that’s just the way it goes.”

After an emotional victory, Platte will have a quick turnaround for its semifinal matchup with the Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re in the third round of the state tournament, they’re there for a reason,” said Strand of their next opponent. “They scratched one out tonight, we just need to get fired up and get ready to play mentally. Physically, we need to take care of our arms, and we need to get guys a little work so we can get ready to go again on Thursday, but we’ll be ready to go.”

Offensively, Sheldon Gant added three hits and a walk, including a double for Platte. Buitenbos tallied two hits along with an RBI, Jeff Harris (Parkston Mudcats pick-up player) drove in a run on two hits, while Richard Sternberg tallied a hit in the win.

For Alexandria, Tyson Gau allowed two runs on eight hits and four walks in eight innings pitched, striking out seven.

Jerrod Zens, Tyson Gau, Michael Schoettmer, Pierce Smith, Peyton Smith, and Jacob Giles each had a hit in the loss for the Angels.

Other action from Monday’s second-round games:

Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks 8, Elk Point Colt 45s 5

MITCHELL — A five-run sixth inning lifted the Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks past Elk Point in State B second-round action Monday.

Rayce Whiting drove in two runs on a double, Braden Herr, Logan Larsen, and Brodie Herr each drove in a run on one hit, while Brayden Odegaard tallied a double and a triple in the win.

Clint DenBoer earned the victory on the mound, allowing three runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings, striking out four.

For Elk Point, Isaac Beeck took the loss allowing four runs on four hits in 0.1 innings.

Jon Merrigan drove in three runs on two hits, Jaxon Hennies batted 4-for-5 with an RBI, while Keaton Gale batted 2-for-3 with two walks and a double in the loss.