HAWLEY — Hawley baseball coach Jamie Seago said that he’s been preaching to catcher Keegan Ables all year that its okay to get hit by a pitch when batting.

Tuesday night, with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Ables took one right off the hip to bring home the tying run in what turned out to be a thrilling 4-3 win over Albany in the District 8-2A opener for both teams.

Creed Ernst followed with a walk that drove in Drew Siller for the winning run.