FIRST AT-BAT … Eagle first baseman Colton Hicks pops out to the pitcher in foul territory in his first plate appearance against Pettisville. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
PETTISVILLE-North Central scored in each of the first four inning to build a 7-1 lead and went on to defeat the fourth seeded Pettisville Blackbirds 7-3.
The Eagles started fast by loading the bases thanks to a pair of hit by pitches and a single by Ben Pettit in the top of the first.
Ben Turner delivered in the clutch for the fifth seeded Eagles with a line drive single to center that scored Quin Burt and Pettit to give North Central a 2-0 advantage.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the first by Eagle starter Ethan Beard, the Eagles added another run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Burt.
Hayes would start the third frame with single followed by a single to left by Kaiden Russell that was misplayed by the left fielder which allowed Hayes to score from first to make it 4-0.
Pettisville scored their first run in the third starting with a Blake Eyer single and he would score with two outs as Gideon Meyers reached base on an error by the right fielder.
North Central answered with a three-run fourth inning as Hayes had an RBI groundout and then Russell clubbed a two-run single to center to increase the North Central lead to 7-1.
Pettisville (12-8) added a couple runs in the sixth as Eyer hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in a run and Isaac St. John had an RBI single to left to make it a 7-3 game.
Russell finished 2-3 with three RBIs for the Eagles and Beard pitched a complete game for North Central, allowing just three hits and striking out six.
St. John, Eyer, and Josh Horning had one hit each for the Blackbirds.
North Central (14-10) will take on top seeded Antwerp (16-5) in the Division IV district semifinals at 5pm in Bryan on Wednesday, May 26th.
SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
North Central 211 300 0 7 8 5
Pettisville 001 002 0 3 3 1
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com