Hornets pick up road win over North Hopkins
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The No. 3 ranked Miller Grove Hornets traveled to North Hopkins Friday, looking to pick up another district win. With a record of 7-6 going into the game, the Hornets were looking to stay above the .500 mark with another win.
Miller Grove opened the game strong, setting the tone offensively in the top of the first. Jagger Qualls got things started by drawing a leadoff walk, followed by a single from Riley Hasten. Jacob George followed with a single of his own, putting the Hornets on the board first.
After a pair of outs, the Hornets kept the bats rolling. With two outs and the bases loaded, Bradley Nordin hit a bases clearing double, extending the Miller Grove lead to 4-0.
George was the starting pitcher for the Hornets, and carried the same success he had offensively over to the mound. George struck out the side, sitting two of the batters down looking and the other one swinging.
The Hornets kept their bats hot in the top of the second, loading the bases with just one out. Landon Burnett came up big with two outs, driving in a pair of runs on an error to make the lead 6-0.
North Hopkins began to answer back in the bottom of the frame, scoring a pair of runs. Neither run was charged as an earned run to George, as three errors were committed in the frame.
Wanting to get their runs back, Nordin opened things up in the top of the third with a leadoff single. Later in the frame Hasten hit a two-run double, bringing in both Nordin and Qualls to push the lead to 8-2.
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Both teams were quiet over the next two innings, until North Hopkins answered back in the bottom of the fourth. North Hopkins was able to plate a pair of runs, one of which came on an error, getting back within striking distance at 8-4.
They continued their strong play in the bottom of the fifth. After a single and reaching on an error, North Hopkins had a two-RBI double, followed by an RBI groundout which brought the score to 8-7.
In the late innings, Nordin once again came up clutch for his team, hitting an RBI single to bring in Landon Burnett. Miller Grove followed up with a big top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs.
Kavan Smith came up with a bases clearing triple, pushing the lead to 12-7. North Hopkins did their best to fight back in the bottom of the seventh, and was able to score a run, but Miller Grove was able to put them away before too much damage was done, winning the game by a final score of 12-8.
Hasten and Nordin led the way offensively, each having three-hit games. Nordin drove in four runs while Hasten drove in two, combining for six of the teams RBI. George and Burnett were right behind them, coming up with two hits each.
George went 4.1 innings on the mound and racked up eight strike outs. He allowed seven runs on four hits, though only two of the runs were charged as earned runs.
Lexton Sly finished the game, throwing the final 2.2 innings. He allowed just one run, which wasn’t earned, on one hit, striking out five.
The win pushes the Hornets record to 8-6 on the season. Miller Grove is now 3-3 in district play and is tied with Sulphur Bluff. The two teams will face each other twice this week, giving one team the chance to create some separation from the other. Coverage of both games will be provided on Front Porch News. [adning id=”33207″]
