The HoCo Bears’ baseball team made the trip to Hoover, Alabama earlier this afternoon for the Perfect Game Showdown and their first opponent was the Headland Rams out of South Alabama and the result was a 6-0 Bears shutout victory to open their tournament run.
HoCo got the scoring started early in the top of the first when Vick Gann scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 Bears and the Black, Silver, and White doubled their lead to 2-0 in the first of the second when Christian Wahiwe hit a sac bunt to drive in Ethan Buffone and the designated visitors made the score 3-0 in the top of the fourth when SP Will Allen hit a hard ground ball rbi single to drive in Ethan Buffone.
The Black, Silver, and White added to it’s lead in the top half of the fifth when Kendall Jackson hit a fly ball to center and reached on an E8 that would also drive in Isaia Galason to make the score 4-0 HoCo and with two outs on the board and a runner at second and third base, Ethan Buffone hit a two-rbi single to drive in Kendall Jackson and Hudson Sherman to make the score 6-0 Bears going into the bottom of the fifth.
HoCo would not plate another run the rest of the contest but their pitching shut down Headland as the Black, Silver, and White would record the 6-0 victory. Bears’ SP Will Allen pitched a complete game surrendering no runs on three hits, walking one, and striking out 11 in the process to record HoCo’s first shutout of 2024 and first game holding an opponent under two runs. 63 of Allen’s 83 pitches were strikes.
Ethan Buffone led the Bears in rbis with two followed by Will Allen and Christian Wahiwe with one each. Rams’ SP Bryce Gover surrendered six runs (three earned) on five hits, walking three, and striking out eight in five innings of work while his relievers Evan Taylor and Bryant Bush combined to allow no runs on no hits, walking one, and striking out two in two innings of relief work, Headland did not have a base runner reach third base in the contest
HoCo had five hits while Headland had 3 hits and the Rams committed one error while the Bears committed no errors. HoCo improves to 6-1 on the season and will prep to play the Smith’s Station, AL Panthers tomorrow afternoon at 3pm eastern/2pm central while it is unknown on who the Rams will take on next.
