The HoCo Bears took care of business at home against county rival Veterans by winning game 1 11-1 in five & winning game 2 10-0 in six to win the County Championship for 2023. The Bears started game one off strong with three runs in the bottom half of the first by way of a Kai Decker rbi single & a Ty Waters two rbi single.
HoCo added to it’s lead in the bottom half of the second when Kai Decker hit a two rbi single to run in Kendall Jackson & Drew Burress bring the score to 5-0 Bears. The Warhawks got on the board in the top half of the third when C. Thomas hit an rbi double to run in Gavin Pike. The Bears put four more runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third via an Eli Stephens two rbi single & a Drew Burress two-run home run to left to increase the lead to 9-1.
HoCo; after going scoreless in the bottom half of the fourth; put the game away when Eli Stephens hit a two rbi double to run in Ethan Buffone & Vick Gann to give the Bears the 11-1 victory in five innings in game one.
HoCo starting pitcher Andrew Dunford pitched all five innings where he struck out three, walked one, & allowed one earned run. Eli Stephens led the Bears with four rbis in game one followed by Kai Decker with three, then Drew Burress & Ty Waters with two. C. Thomas had Veterans’ lone rbi of the game while their starting pitcher Gavin Pike pitched for four innings where he allowed six earned runs, walked one, & struck out two.
HoCo had 12 hits & committed no errors while the Warhawks had 3 hits & committed 2 errors in game one.
The Bears started game two in essentially the same way as they did in game one; by jumping on Veterans early. HoCo scored four runs in the bottom half of the first which came in via a Kai Decker rbi single, an Elijah Smith rbi single, & a Hunter Chiappetta two rbi single. The next next 2 1/2 innings would go scoreless before the Bears added to their lead in the bottom half of the fourth.
Drew Burress hit a three-run home run to center to give HoCo a 7-0 lead in game two & in the bottom of the fifth; the Bears added two more runs with the eighth run coming in on a wild pitch & the ninth coming in on a Drew Burress sac fly to center. HoCo put game two away in the bottom half of the sixth when Kendall Jackson was hit by pitch which carasouled the bases to run in Christian Wahiwe to give the Bears the 10-0 shutout victory in six innings.
Carson Small was the starting pitcher for HoCo in game two where he struck out six, walked one, & allowed no runs in five innings of work. Drew Burress led the way in rbis in game two with four followed by Hunter Chiappetta with two, & Kai Decker, Elijah Smith, & Kendall Jackson with one. Veterans starting pitcher Cody Daugherty pitched four & 1/3 innings where he allowed eight earned runs, walked five, & struck out ten.
The Bears had 12 hits & committed one error while the Warhawks had five hits & committed no errors in game two.
HoCo currently sits at 15-1 overall; 6-0 in region play while Veterans currently sits at 8-9 overall; 0-6 in region play. The Bears will have a big region contest against Thomas Co Central at home next Tuesday at 6pm & a doubleheader next Friday at 4:30 & 7pm at the Jackets’ Nest. The Warhawks will host Lee Co next Tuesday at 5:30pm & will travel to Leesburg for a doubleheader next Friday at 4:30 & 7pm.
HoCo went 8-0 against their county rivals by outscoring them 89-12.
