HOWLAND — Howland hosted Warren Harding in an All-American Conference grudge match on Monday, and the Tigers walked it off with a 3-2 comeback victory.

Sophomore Sullivan O’Donnell tossed his helmet in the air after he drove home fellow sophomore Ketan Perry with the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh.

“That’s back-to-back wins for us,” O’Donnell said. “I actually pitched a shutout in our last game on Saturday against Nordonia. The team really came together to get this win. We had some great situational hitting, and our pitcher put up some zeroes on the scoreboard when we needed it.”

Both pitchers went the entire way, and each of them are freshmen. Brayden Kovarik held the Raiders (5-6) scoreless for the final four innings, but Harding took a 2-1 advantage into the bottom of the sixth.

Then, Howland sophomore Bode Biggin beat out an infield single. After some nifty base running, junior Aiden Anders knocked in Biggin to tie it up 2-2 heading to the seventh.

Senior William List had a lead-off single for the Raiders. Bryttain Fuller smacked a long drive to left field, but Kovarik got out of trouble with a strikeout.

Gummy Hart pitched fantastic for Harding, but O’Donnell got the go-ahead RBI and the Tigers record improved to 5-4 on the season.

“I’m so proud of these kids,” said Howland coach Britt Taylor. “They battled. They stayed level headed when things got tough. This is a very young team that’s growing together.”

This wasn’t the first time Harding coach Andrew Burnett witnessed a game like that between the two schools.

“That’s a typical Howland versus Harding baseball game,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the records are. The games are going to be close. They always come down to a play here or there.

“Gummy Hart has been great all year. We have three other guys that can really pitch as well. But, Gummy has taken the lead. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him every time he’s out there.”

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