Hawks hammer Melissa, 11-3
Hits ran rampant and Joe Pearlman tossed a gem as Pleasant Grove clinched momentum-grabbing Game 1 as it trounced Melissa, 11-3, at Hawk Field on Thursday in a Region II-4A semifinal baseball game.
Pearlman hit his stride in the fourth by luring batters into off-balance swings with his curveball and late swings with his fastball. Pearlman gave up just five hits and one earned run. He struck out nine in the complete game.
“I thought he (Pearlman) did outstanding,” Hawk head coach Riley Fincher said. “He gave up a solo home run in the first, but he came back and got the next two batters out. Then he comes back and hits a triple and it just shows what kind of athlete he is.”
Pleasant Grove (27-3) will play Melissa (14-15) in Game 2 in the best-of-three series on Saturday at 11 a.m. at John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas.
The Hawk offensive backed Pearlman up with 16 hits—four belonging to designated hitter Jarod Bayless, who slugged two doubles and four RBI. Bayless is likely to get the ball Saturday.
“Right now our guys are seeing the ball and looking for their pitch to drive,” Riley said. “We are trying to hit the ball hard and put the pressure on the other team.
“If we can eliminate defensive mistakes and continue with good pitching and hitting then we are going to go out there and try to jump on them.”
In the bottom of the first leadoff batter Pearlman laced a hit to right-center for the Hawks and stretched it into a triple when the center fielder misplayed the ball. Jacob Smith drove Pearlman in on a groundout to knot the score.
Cory Regan belted a solo home run on a 1-1 count with one out in the top of the first for Melissa. Danny Britt, the next batter, singled to left field, but was left stranded after Pearlman fanned the next two Cardinal batters.
Landon Russo popped a single to center field for the Hawks and reached
second on a passed ball in the bottom of the second. Teammate Blake Roberts drove in Russo on a single that bounced past the second baseman. Pleasant Grove led, 2-1, after two complete.
The Cardinals tacked on two runs in the third after Peyton Regan slapped a single to left and Dean Youngblood and Cory Regan reached on fielding errors. With the bases loaded, PG got a force out at home plate, but a walk brought in the tying run. A go-ahead run scored when John Gressett blooped a single past the shortstop.
Melissa’s 3-2 lead would not last long, and the Hawks answered with a crooked number.
Hudson Hopkins led off the bottom of the third for PG with a blazing roller to left field. Smith slapped a single to center field and Brayden Nicholson walked. Bayless clubbed a two-run double on a 3-0 count for the Hawks. Mark Ashby kept the inning alive when he sliced a single to right-center to score Nicholson. Bayless and Ashby scored on passed balls to make it 7-3.
Pearlman kept the Cardinals’ bats quiet as he struck out one, forced a popup and a groundout in the fourth.
Zak Beasley smacked what he thought was a double to right field for Melissa, but PG right fielder A.J. Snyder fired a strike to second to chase him back to first in the fifth.
The Hawks piled up four runs on five hits in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Hopkins hit a deep ball to left center for a double, Smith laced a double to the same spot to score Hopkins and Nicholson brought Smith home as he smashed a double to left field. Russo used his speed to reach first on a deep infield hit.
With two on, Bayless smacked a deep two-run double to center for Pleasant Grove to make it 11-3.
The series winner will face either Argyle or Van in the regional finals next week. Those teams were scoreless when lightning halted play Thursday. They will resume play at Lindale today before moving to Argyle for Game 2, and possible third game, starting at 2 p.m. Saturday.