The HoCo Bears got put to the test for the first time this season by the Marist War Eagles & HoCo passed the test by defeating Marist 10-5 at the Bears’ Diamond earlier tonight. The Bears scored the game’s first run in the bottom half of the first when Kai Decker hit an rbi single to run in Drew Burress.
The game really picked up in the top half of the 3rd with Marist finding 2 runs to lead 2-1 going into the bottom half of the frame. HoCo got back out front with two runs of it’s own in the bottom half of the third & led 3-2 going into the top half of the fourth. That’s when the War Eagles caught fire as they hit a leadoff solo HR to left to tie the game & later in the frame; they added a two-run homer to left to retake the lead 5-3 after 3 1/2 innings of play.
The Bears answered quickly by closing the gap to one with a run scored on a wild pitch & that’s when Andrew Dunford came to bat. The 6’7″ senior starting pitcher for tonight’s game hit a go-head two-run homer to center to put the Bears up 6-5 in the bottom half of the fourth…. a lead they would never relinquish again the rest of the night.
HoCo added four more runs to their total that included senior center fielder & top prospect out of the class of 2023 in the state of Georgia Drew Burress picking up his first rbi of the season with a double in the bottom half of the sixth. Senior Ryker Chavis came in & pitched the last two innings by giving up 0 runs, 0 hits, & 5 Ks. The Bears ended the game on a 7-0 run to win 10-5 over the War Eagles.
Andrew Dunford as mentioned earlier was the starting pitcher tonight who struggled some by walking a handful of Marist players & gave up two runs; he also recorded 1 K in 2 2/3rds innings of work. HoCo improved to 2-0 overall while Marist fell to 0-2 overall. The War Eagles will play Mary Persons tomorrow morning at 11am at HoCo & will follow that up with a rematch against the Bears at 1:30pm tomorrow afternoon.
Senior Hunter Chiappetta hit a bloop 2 rbi single & advanced to third in the bottom of the sixth.
Elsewhere; Warner Robins hosted county rival Northside at the Demon Diamond earlier tonight & as of this writing; no final score has been reported. Perry re-matched against Jones Co in Greyhound country that resulted in a 15-3 blowout victory for Perry. The Panthers improved to 5-0 on the season after sweeping Jones Co & with the loss; the Greyhounds fell to 0-3 overall.
No final score was reported in the Warhawks home battle against Hawkinsville as of this writing & speaking of Veterans, they played host to Mary Persons Thursday Night & won a close game 7-6 to currently sit at 2-1 overall while the Bulldogs fell to 1-2 overall. Northside played at Westside (Macon) this past Thursday afternoon & no final score was reported as of this writing.
