Hawks club Lindale, 12-3, in Game 1
Halter's strong pitching sparks PG
MARSHALL, Texas — A game that began as tense as a racehorse waiting for the starting gun turned into a runaway win for Pleasant Grove, which posted a 12-3 win over Lindale in Game a of the teams’ best-of-three regional quarterfinal baseball series Thursday night.
Sophomore pitcher Jarret Halter struck out seven in a complete game and and drove in a pair of runs to key the Hawks, who improved to 28-5-1. Lindale (23-7-1) led briefly as the teams slugged it out early but fell behind as PG scored in five of its six at-bats.
Lindale ace Ryan Betts struggled with control, and it cost him. Of the seven walks he issued, four turned into runs at East Texas Baptist University’s field.
“That was a big win for us,” said PG coach Riley Fincher. “You have to give credit to Halter and our offense. We’ve got to come out tomorrow and clean some things up and keep on the pressure.”
In the beginning, both leadoff hitters were deadly. Kaden Fleming lined Halter’s first pitch over the fence in right center. Brandon Clark answered with his 11th triple of the season, this one to the gap in right center. Halter tied it up with a groundout to the second baseman to tie it at 1.
The Eagles answered right back. Hudson Lugrow picked up an infield single with a slow roller up the third base line. Ty Mccoy drove a ball into the right-center gap for a double, but was thrown out when he overslid second just as center fielder Hunter Rose fired a rope to shortstop JM Long. Mccoy moved to third on the play and scored moments later on a wild pitch.
The Hawks grabbed the lead for good in the bottom of the second after Betts walked the first three batters. Jace Elrod hit into a 4-63 double play, but Buck Anderson scored on the play. First baseman Luke Wagoner tried to fire it across the diamond to catch trail runner Spencer Browning, who scored after the ball sailed out of play.
Pleasant Grove increased the lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the third. JM Long walked, moved to second on a single by Cade Martin and to third on a passed ball. Rose drove a fly ball deep to left to bring him in.
The Hawks broke it open with four runs in the fourth after Betts walked the first two batters. Jace Elrod laced a sharp single to center to load the bases. Clark followed with a double to center to bring in Browning and Boozer. Halter followed with a sacrifice fly and Elrod came in on a wild pitch to make it 8-3 after four.
Pleasant Grove came within a hit of invoking the mercy rule with a sixth-inning, four-run rally in that began after two were out. Halter and Long walked, Martin singled to bring in Halter and Rose walked to load the bases.
Anderson cleared them with a triple into the right-field corner to make it 12-3.
The teams will meet again at 7:30 tonight at ETBU’S field in Marshall.