Four North Pike High School pitchers saw action on the mound Wednesday night as the baseball team won 11-0 in six innings at South Pike to remain undefeated in Region 6-4A.
Brantley Hughes threw the first inning for the Jaguars (17-1, 10-0), recorded one strikeout and was credited with the win. Connor Travis threw the second inning recording two strikeouts while giving up one hit.
Daryl Holloway hit a two-out single to center for the winless Eagles in the bottom of the second.
Cade Killingsworth threw the third and fourth innings for North Pike, giving up one walk to South Pike’s Malik Leonard while recording one strikeout. Dalton Reed threw the fifth and sixth innings and had one strikeout.
“We wanted to throw everybody in our bullpen an inning before Friday,” North Pike head coach George Lott said. “All the guys came in, they threw strikes, they did a great job.”
North Pike led 5-0 after five innings, but put six runs on the board in the sixth to extend its lead to 11-0.
“I think the game was a little bit closer than it was on the scoreboard,” South Pike head coach J.T. Thomas said. “We hit the ball hard right at them. North Pike’s got a good defensive team. They’re well disciplined. Coach Lott does a good job with them. It’s just one of those things. We’re still hitting the ball hard, but right at somebody. They’re making plays.”
Killingsworth hit a grand slam homer in the top of the sixth, scoring Reed, Jacob Gill and Hughes. Reed and Gill doubled while Hughes walked. Matthew Phillips reached on an error and scored on a Travis infield single. Reed hit an infield single to score Travis.
The Jaguars did not score any runs during the third, fourth and fifth innings.
“We had a little talking to right there before that last inning,” Lott said. “We got out there, tried to hit ball out of the ballpark and we started popping the ball up. We hit a lot of balls hard and they made some plays. South Pike played a really good game tonight, so a lot of credits to them.”
Gill hit a solo home run on the first pitch to lead off the game. Killingsworth reached on an error in the top of the first. Pinch runner Austin Fortinberry scored as Tyler Alexander reached on an error to give North Pike a 2-0 lead at the end of the first inning.
The Jaguars had an opportunity to score more, but the Eagles turned a double play.
Ben Coney singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Hughes flied out to South Pike left fielder Reggie Martin and Coney attempted to advance to third base. Martin got the ball in to South Pike third baseman Jesse Jordan, who tagged Coney out to complete the double play.
“We played good ball tonight,” Thomas said. “I’m proud of the boys. Even though we lost the game, we never gave up. We were in the game the whole time.”
Leonard pitched a complete game for the Eagles giving up eight earned runs and four walks.
North Pike put together a three-run top of the second to take a 5-0 lead.
Adam Haygood walked and his pinch runner Trent Coleman scored on a Gill sacrifice fly. Reed doubled and scored on a Coney double. Coney scored on a Hughes double.
“They did exactly what I told them to do,” Lott said. “They sat back, waited, drove the ball really hard. Gill hit the ball really hard tonight. He had a couple balls he hit deep. He hit the ball up the middle. He hit it to the 320 foot and they caught it on the fence. As a whole, I’m pleased with the way we swung the bat. Three-quarters of the balls we hit, we hit really hard.”
Gill was 2 for 5 with two RBIs, one double, one home run and two runs; Coney was 1 for 3 with one double, one walk, one run and one RBI; Hughes was 1 for 3 with one run, one RBI, one walk and one double; Killingsworth was 1 for 3 with one run, four RBIs and one home run; Phillips was 1 for 3 with one run; Justin Griffin was 1 for 1; Travis was 1 for 3 with one run and one RBI; Haygood was 1 for 3 with one walk; Reed was 3 for 4 with two doubles, two runs and one walk.
North Pike hosts McComb in a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. Friday and hosts Brookhaven at 3 p.m. Saturday.
South Pike is at Florence in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. Friday.
“I think the kids need to believe in themselves a little bit more,” Thomas said. “Tonight, you could see their confidence building. They made the plays. The confidence was building. That’s one of the key factors this year. We just haven’t been confident in one another.”
