SAND ROCK – Hokes Bluff managed two big innings at Sand Rock in Tuesday baseball action, and they were more than enough run support for Eagle starting pitcher Payton Lemons.
Lemons struck out 14 Wildcats in six innings of work in the Eagles’ 12-4 victory.
Hokes Bluff (6-1) batted around in the top of the third inning and scored four runs to take a 4-0 lead. Lemons helped himself at the plate in that inning with a two-run single to left off Sand Rock starter Ethan Clanton. Brayson Hayes also added a run-scoring single to left in an inning that began with two hit batsmen with no outs.
The Eagles tacked on another run in the top of the fourth. Nine-hole hitter Anderson Morgan led off with a walk and later scored to put Hokes Bluff up 5-0. The Eagles added one more run in the top of the sixth off Wildcat reliever Slade St. Clair when Morgan singled to center with one out and later scored on a passed ball.
Hokes Bluff put the game out of reach with a six-run seventh, as the Eagles sent 12 batters to the plate against relievers St. Clair and Austin Yoder.
Hunter Burke and Drake Rainey both delivered back-to-back two runs doubles for the big blows in the inning. Brett Hayes had a run-scoring single to left and Morgan walked with the bases loaded for the other two runs in the inning, putting Hokes Bluff in front 12-1.
Sand Rock (3-1) attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh against Eagle reliever Dawson Teague. Olin Pruitt led off with a bunt single, then Cade Ballenger followed with a walk. Both players scored on a double to right field by Logan Wood.
After Wildcat pinch hitter Matthew Grimes struck out, Clanton delivered an infield single that scored Wood, but Teague struck out Yoder and Bradley Jackson to end the game.
“For two innings, you don’t throw any strikes you don’t win. That was it,” Sand Rock coach Jeff Norris said. “They had two innings where we didn’t throw strikes. If we throw strikes there, then we’re not in that situation.”
Brian Giles led the Wildcats at the plate by going 3-for-3 with a bloop single to left with two outs to score Sand Rock’s first run in the bottom of the fifth. He also had a double to left in the bottom of the third and a single to left in the first inning. Wood went 2-for-4. Pruitt and Clanton both had a hit and walk.
Burke, Rainey and Brayson Hayes each had a pair of hits for the Eagles. Brayson Hayes also walked. Lemons was 1-for-2 with three walks. Morgan had a single, two walks and was hit by a pitch. Teague had a hit and a walk. Brett Hayes finished with a hit and drove in a run.
Sand Rock hosts Collinsville on Thursday and Cedar Bluff on Friday. Both contests are scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
