In what was perhaps the best area high school baseball game of the 2001 season, the Huntington Hounds defeated the Trinity Saints 2-0 in nine innings Tuesday afternoon at the Trinity baseball field.

With the win, Huntington improved to 15-4 overall and 7-0 in MPSA District 5-1A. The Hounds also clinched the regular season district title and the top seed in the district tournament, which will be played at Huntington starting next Tuesday.

Trinity lost its second straight game to drop to 7-8 overall and 5-3 in district play.

&uot;I’ve never been so proud of a loss in all my years,&uot; said Trinity head coach David King. &uot;It was a good old-fashioned ball game.&uot;

On the mound, Huntington’s Barrett Kiser and Trinity’s Elliot Meng pitched all nine innings for their respected ball clubs and did not disappoint.

Kiser, the winning pitcher, gave up six hits, struck out six and walked two.

Meng gave up two earned runs on only four hits, struck out 10, walked four and had two hit batters.

&uot;Elliot and Barrett went toe to toe for nine innings,&uot; said Huntington assistant coach Michael McAnally. &uot;Barrett pitched a good game. Elliot worked himself out of jams.&uot;

Meng allowed the lead-off batter to get on first base in the first four innings, but none of them were able to score, and in the first three innings got the next batter to strike out.

Huntington’s Toby Wilson was picked off on a rundown between third and home in the top of the second inning. Kiser was forced out at third on a fielder’s choice by Wilson in the top of the fourth inning on a great throw by senior centerfielder Cole Brown to senior third baseman Wes Middleton. Both were playing in their final home game as Saints.

Not to be outdone, however, was the defense behind Kiser as Gregory Ketchings was forced out at second in the bottom of the second. Cole Brown was tagged out at third by third baseman Trey Mason on a fielder’s choice by Middleton in the bottom of the third inning.

&uot;We hit the ball hard, but they made the plays,&uot; King said.

Neither team did much until Huntington had the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the seventh.

Trinity’s defense, however, came through again, as Luke Davis was forced out at home, Kenneth Clayton struck out and Wyatt Kemp flied out to center field.

Trinity had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the eighth when Cole Brown walked and moved to third on a Walt Ketchings single.

Middleton then grounded out to first base for the third out. Huntington then got to Meng in the top of the ninth on singles by Davis and Wilson. After a double steal, Mason’s RBI groundout scored Davis and an error scored Wilson.

&uot;It was exciting,&uot; McAnally said. &uot;We’ve had problems scoring early all year long. This is a very good Trinity team.&uot;

Trinity plays its final game of the season at Brookhaven Academy beginning with the junior varsity game at 1 p.m. followed by the varsity game at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Huntington wraps up its season with at district game at Chamberlain-Hunt at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.