Hawks beat Van
Pleasant Grove run-rules Panthers to advance
Pleasant Grove made it look easy.
The Hawks' Tyler Jeans threw a 1-hitter as Pleasant Grove run-ruled Spring Hill 10-0 in Game 2 of a Class 4A Region II area round baseball playoff game at Hawk Field Saturday.
Pleasant Grove wins the series 2-0 after defeating the Panthers 3-1 on Friday and will face Canton in the regional quarterfinals.
The Hawks play Canton in a doubleheader on Thursday; Game 1 is at 4:30 p.m. at Canton High School, and Game 2 will follow 30 minutes after Game 1. A third game, if needed, will be played Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pleasant Grove.
“I thought Tyler did an outstanding job of filling the strike zone,” Hawk head coach Riley Fincher said. “Our defense played error free behind him after the first inning, and Tyler did exactly what we expected from him.
“Our approach at the plate was good, and we did a good job of seeing the ball. Our whole thing is to put the ball in play, try to get on first base, and see what happens; we did a good job of that.”
Jeans threw 4 1/3 innings, had four Ks, did not issue a walk, and hit a 2-run homer in the second frame. He also went 3 for 3 at the dish with a round tripper and 5 RBI.
The Hawks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after the second frame when Keaton Russo walked and Jeans hammered a home run over the left field fence. Connor Ouellette was hit by a pitch, and Will Hlavinka sacrificed bunted to move Ouellette to second base.
A batter later, Cade Thompson walked, his second of the game, and Caleb Bolden smashed a 3-run shot over the wall at left center to give PG a 5-0 lead.
The Hawks' Carson Cox walked in the third stanza, and Jeans singled with a hot roller down the third-base line to score Cox, who had taken second on a passed ball. Ouellette reached on an error as courtesy runner Seth Hopkins came around from first to score to make it 7-0.
With two outs, Jackson Cobb laced a single through the hole at short to score Ouellette, and Pleasant Grove took an 8-0 lead.
Heath Ferguson led off the fourth with a single to right field and took second and third on wild pitches. Cox walked and Jeans hit a 2-run single down the first-base line to make it 10-0.
Hawk pitcher Nick Voyles entered the game with an out in the fourth and got the last two to clinch the win for PG.
Starting Spring Hill pitcher Jared Blake took the loss, threw two innings, allowed five runs on two hits, struck out one, and walked three.
Pleasant Grove improved to 29-3.
SH 000 00 — 0 1 4 PG 053 2x —10 6 2 Jared Blake, Braedon Sims (3), Cade Medlin (4) and Jacob Moore. Tyler Jeans, Nick Voyles (5) and Keaton Russo. WP-Jeans. LP-Blake. HR: Pleasant Grove-Tyler Jeans, 2nd, 1 on; Caleb Bolden, 2nd, 2 on.