Heritage takes two of three from Ridgeland
Last week’s rain slightly altered the schedule for the region series between the Heritage Generals and the Ridgeland Panthers, but the games were finally able to be played over a two-day span with the Navy-and-Red taking the series, two games to one.
Heritage 8, Ridgeland 7
Down 7-4 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Heritage Generals used three singles, a walk and two costly Ridgeland errors to score four times and claim victory in the first game of the threegame series between the two 6-AAAA teams.
J.T. Eaton had an RBI-single to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth before Nolen Dietz delivered an RBI-single for what became the gamewinning run. The first two runs in the frame scored on an error.
Lane Johnson drew his third walk of the night for the Panthers to lead off the top of the seventh, but Caden Snyder would enter the game in a relief appearance for Heritage and sat down the next three hitters to end the game.
Nick Hanson started for Heritage and gave up four earned runs on one hit and four walks in 3.1 innings of work. He finished with three strikeouts. Pete Padgett allowed three earned runs on a hit and three walks in 2.2 innings of relief. He finished with four strikeouts and was credited with the win, while Snyder struck out one batter and recorded the save.
Offensively, Cade Kiniry was 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. Eaton went 2 for 3 with three RBIs. C.J. Robertson had a double as one of his two hits, while Padgett also had a double in the game.
Hudson Couch had a pair of doubles and knocked in four runs for Ridgeland, while Johnson scored twice and drove in one run.
Robert Jent started on the mound for Ridgeland and pitched 4.2 innings. He gave up four earned runs on four walks and seven hits with four strikeouts. Austyn Acuff pitched 1.1 innings of relief, but was saddled with the loss. He allowed three hits and one walk with one strikeout. All four runs he gave up were unearned.
Heritage 14, Ridgeland 1
In the first game of a doubleheader at Jay Smith Field on Friday night, the Generals led 3-1 after five innings, but exploded for 11 runs in the sixth to run away with the victory. Heritage had 15 hits in the game, all singles, save for Robertson’s monster homerun over the rightfield fence to lead off the game.
Kiniry, Snyder, Dietz, Ryan Heet and Mike Stokes each had two hits for the Generals. Snyder led the way with three RBI’s, while Robertson, Stokes and Padgett each drove in two runs. Kiniry, Heet, Eaton, Alex Mixon and Dylan Bryan were all credited with one RBI.
Kiniry got the victory on the mound. He gave up just one earned run on seven hits and two walks in four innings of work with seven strikeouts.
Landen Skeen had a big game in relief with six strikeouts in two innings.
Couch was 2 for 3 for the Panthers with an RBI. Chris Maddeaux also went 2 for 3, while Brody Spurgeon scored the lone run for the home team. Nolan Hughley got the start for Ridgeland, while Acuff, Chandler Goodwin, Gabe Paris and Jacob Klein also action in relief.
Ridgeland 7, Heritage 6
The second game of the twinbill, and the final game of the three-game set, saw the Panthers get four singles and draw three walks in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Heritage would respond with four runs in the top of the second inning, two on a single by Robertson, but Ridgeland would answer with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the second inning. Spurgeon delivered a two-run single, while Jordan McLin and Drew Meade also picked up RBIs.
The Generals pushed home a run in the third inning and added another run in the top of the fourth on a single by Heet to make it a one-run game. However, a leadoff double by Eaton in the fifth was erased on a double play and Heet would be left stranded at third in the top of the seventh after delivering a one-out triple.
McLin got the win for Ridgeland (4-4, 1-2). He pitched four innings, allowing six earned runs on five hits and eight walks with one strikeout. Maddeaux took over in the fifth and gave up just one hit over the final three innings. He struck out two batters, including the game-clinching out.
McLin and Maddeaux also had two hits each. McLin helped himself with an RBI and Maddeaux scored twice. Spurgeon finished the game with three RBI’s. Dylan Fowler was 1 for 2 with an RBI and Johnson was 1 for 3 and scored twice.
Kiniry matched Heet with two hits and one RBI, while Camden Quails scored twice, drew two walks and drove in a run for Heritage.
Zach Barrett pitched five innings of relief for Heritage (3-8, 2-1) af
ter Skeen and J.J. Hunt toed the rubber early in Game 2. Barrett gave up just one earned run on four hits and finished with seven strikeouts.
Heritage 10, Coahulla Creek 0
The Generals finally broke into the win column this past Wednesday with a dominant performance against the Colts in a non-region game. Quails delivered a walk-off, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap a five-RBI day. He finished the game 2 for 4 at the plate.
Dietz was 2 for 3 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. Padgett and Eaton each had two hits with Eaton delivering an RBI. Snyder also drove in a run and Alex had a double.
Hunt pitched three innings of no-hit ball to get the victory. He struck out five batters and walked just one. Padgett and Skeen each had one strikeout in one inning of relief, while Barrett struck out three batters in his one inning on the mound.