After a Conference 17 semifinal victory Friday, the King’s Fork High School baseball team clinched its bid to the 4A East regional tournament.

The Bulldogs will continue to play again this season after the 5-2 win over Churchland High School. Churchland won the last matchup during the regular season, so it was important for the Bulldogs to turn around and play better against them.

King’s Fork’s baseball team is excited about its accomplishment. It has been a while since the baseball team was able to play at regionals.

“Big win for our team and program,” Bulldogs coach Robert Hedrick said. “The guys just didn’t want to go home. They weren’t ready to stop playing this season yet. We executed when we needed to. We did a lot of things to win that game.”

King’s Fork jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Churchland tied it up in the second inning. For the rest of the game, the Bulldogs slowly built on their lead. Noah Floyd and Ricky McCleod shared pitching duties on the day. Floyd got the win. Hedrick believes his pitching committee will be fresh for Monday’s regional game.

Hedrick said his team was filled with emotion after the game. Some of these players won’t play baseball again, so Hedrick felt that sense of urgency from his team on Friday.

“We all played together and well,” Bulldog Tim Gromkoski said. “We made plays when they needed to be made. The team is very happy with the way things went. If we keep this momentum, we have a good chance of advancing.”

Next, King’s Fork must make a quick turn around and play in the regional tournament on Monday. They will take on Jamestown High School out of Williamsburg. Jamestown is the higher seed, so they will host the Bulldogs.

King’s Fork 5, Churchland 2

King’s Fork 2 0 1 1 0 1—5

Churchland 0 2 0 0 0 0—2

King’s Fork: Hits 5—Marrero, Sargent, DeGuzman, Allen, Gromkoski; Runs 5—Marrero, Brown, Sargent, DeGuzman, Allen; RBI 2—Sargent, Gromkoski

Winning pitcher: Noah Floyd

Churchland: Hits 3—Heath, Dodge, Moore; Runs 2—Blond, Fly; RBI 2—Heath 2