Hawks win, grab first place
Joe Pearlman spun a three-hit shutout and Hudson Hopkins and Brayden Nicholson smacked homers as Pleasant Grove moved into sole possession of first place in District 15-4A with a 10-0 whupping of North Lamar Tuesday at Hawk Field.
Pearlman struck out seven, walked none and faced just one over the minimum of 18 batters. North Lamar catcher Jake Lamar had two of the Panthers’ three hits but was thrown out on base both times. Once Pearlman caught him on a rundown. The other time he was gunned down by catcher Mark Ashby as he tried to steal second.
Ashby continued to star behind the place, smothering the dying breaking pitches that Pearlman used to notch up most of his strikeouts.
“Joe’s a bulldog,” Pleasant grove coach Riley Fincher said. “He’s a great athlete, a great pitcher. He wants the ball.
“Ashby’s stops behind the plate were big,” Fincher added. “The way he’s playing behind the plate gives the pitchers the confidence to throw it down there.”
Pleasant Grove was relentless on offense, scoring in every inning but one, forcing the game to be halted with none out in the bottom of the sixth because of the run rule.
Hopkins got things off to a fast start, lofting one high over the left-center gap in the top of the first. Jacob Smith got on and took second on a throwing error by the third baseman. He stole third and scored on a sacrifice to deep center by Nicholson to make it 2-0 after one.
Hopkins put the Hawks on the board again in the third with a double to deep left that scored A.J. Snyder. Snyder singled and scored all three times he batted, the final time to end the game.
Landon Russo made it 4-0 in the fourth. He reached on a single and scored when Blake Roberts pounded a grounder front of the plate and the catcher threw the ball
down the right field line.
The Hawks broke it open in the bottom of the fifth. Snyder led off with a single and Pearlman followed with a walk. Hopkins move them up with a fielder’s choice. Jacob Smith laid down a perfect suicide squeeze to bring in Pearlman. Pitcher Kevin Dickey’s throw to the plate was high, sailing to the back stop, allowing Pearlman to score.
Nicholson followed with a blast over the right field fence to make it 8-0.
Roberts and Snyder led off the sixth with singles and moved into scoring position on a throwing error on the first baseman. who was trying to throw out Pearlman who had hit a soft roller to the right side.
Hopkins followed through with the walk-off single to bring in his third and fourth RBI and make it 10-0.
“Once they get going, it’s fun to watch, and fun to coach,” said Fincher.
North Lamar, (6-7-1, 2-1) picked up its first district loss. Pleasant Grove (13-2, 3-0) hosts Paris at 6 p.m. Friday.