ABILENE — Several times in his career, Hamlin senior Ian Gruben has flirted with a no-hitter — including taking a perfect game into the fifth inning earlier this year against Aspermont.

On Thursday night, Hamlin’s ace lost his chance at his first no-hitter on a seventh-inning single, but he did more than enough before that as the Pied Pipers took a 12-2 win over Hermleigh in a one-game Region I-1A area-round playoff at McMurry University’s Walt Driggers Field.

While the single by Braidyn Lynch was hard-hit and clean, Gruben said it was on him as he issued a leadoff walk in the frame that had Ian Hutchings holding a runner on base.