Phil Campbell starts baseball season strong
By Bart Moss / For the FCT
The Phil Campbell Bobcats got off to a strong start on the opening week of the baseball season, picking up wins over Hamilton and Marion County.
Hamilton
The Bobcats scored 17 runs on 12 hits in a 17-6 victory over the Hamilton Aggies.
Phil Campbell used an eight-run third inning to seal the deal.
Hamilton led off the game with a five-run first inning. The Bobcats scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Two of the runs came on a two-RBI double by Nate Owens. Owens scored on an RBI-single by Rilan Garrison.
The Aggies extended their lead to 6-3 in the second inning before the Bobcat bats sprang to life in the third. Phil Campbell took the lead on an RBI-double by Mike Wrona scoring Owens and Austen Baker. Joe Hardy homered later in the inning, scoring Wrona and Cole Motes to give the Bobcats a 10-6 lead.
Peyton Thomas, last year’s leading home run hitter, hit a two-run shot in the fourth to give the Bobcats a 15-6 lead.
Owens got the win for the Bobcats, pitching three innings, striking out seven and giving up only one hit. Motes started the game but surrendered six runs on five hits in two innings.
Thomas went three for three with two RBIs, four runs and a walk. Motes went two for four, scoring two runs. Baker went two for four, scoring two runs.
Wrona and Hardy each had three RBIs and scored two runs. Owens had two RBIs and scored three times. Ridge Raper had two RBIs, and Brandon Thomas scored two runs.
Hamilton committed six errors to Phil Campbell’s three miscues.
Marion County
Phil Campbell scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to earn a 6-5 lead over the Marion County Red Raiders.
The Bobcat had to overcome five fielding errors to win the game.
Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Hardy scored Motes on an infield-single.
The Bobcats scored two runs in the bottom of the third inning to take an early lead. Marion County tied the game in the top of the fourth inning. The Red Raiders took a two-run lead, 4-2, in the top of the fifth. The Bobcats took a 6-4 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Marion County scored once more in the seventh inning.
Austen Baker went two for three and scored a run in the game. Motes had a two-RBI game.
