Game 1 between Northside and Houston County went to the latter. Understatement. The Bears were dominant in beating the Eagles. They won 13-1 and did so in just five innings.
Houston County improved to 7-0 in 1-AAAAAA, 21-4 overall. Northside fell to 0-7, 9-15. The two will meet again Friday at 4:30 p.m. for a doubleheader to finish out the regular season.
The Bears scored five runs in the first, three in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth. They sent 10 hitters to the plate in the first. It included a pair of walks, three singles and back-to-back doubles by Hunter Chiappetta and Elijah Smith. The second brought another double, Garrett Hortman, and a triple, Smith. Blaydn Alaniz also hit a double to start the third and a couple of batters being hit by a pitch and a trio of walks paved the way for the three in the fourth.
The Eagles’ lone run came in the first – a walk to D.J. Hudson, a wild pitch that enabled him to go to second and him scoring on D.C. Coney’s single.
Houston County out-hit Northside 11-4. Hortman was 3-4 with two driven in and two scored. Chiappetta was 2-3 with a walk. He drove in four and scored twice. Smith was 2-3 with two RBIs and Andrew Dunford was 1-3 with two driven in and two runs scored.
Coney finished 2-2 for the Eagles. One of his was also a double.
Brooks Willis worked four innings for the Bears. He gave up the hits, walked one and struck out four. Gage Harrelson got in one inning of relief. He walked one and struck out one.
Hudson also worked two innings on the mound – two replaced him for a little over an inning apiece. He gave up nine hits, nine runs, walked three and struck out three.
