Bob Jones plays long ball in win over Buckhorn
MADISON- Bob Jones continued to dominate the teams in Class 7A, Area 8 Thursday night defeating Buckhorn 13-3 in six innings. Bob Jones’ hitters continued their onslaught of pitchers by hitting four home runs in the game. The Patriots are now 3-0 in area play and have won those games by a combined 37-5 run margin.
The fast start has put Bob Jones, now ranked eighth in Class 7A, on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot but Bob Jones baseball coach Jared Smith still sounded a word of caution after the game.
“It’s only one win whether we win by one run or ten,” Smith said. “The series isn’t over and we don’t get to carry any of those runs over tomorrow. We’re playing to win every game. The next one is the biggest one. We’ve got to be zeroed in tomorrow and come ready to play.
We’ve hit the ball well all season so I’m not surprised we are hitting this well. Today the wind was blowing out.”
Facing Buckhorn pitcher Griffin Johnson, Dylan Ray hit a three run home run in the bottom of the first with Caden Rose and Cam Hill on base. It was home run #9 on the season for Ray.
In the second Bob Jones took advantage of an error when the Buckhorn left fielder dropped a fly ball and Mitch Daly then hit a three-run home run.
Buckhorn coach Roger Wright changed pitcher’s with the score 9-2 in the second inning. He brought in Tanner Newbourne.
Caden Rose added a two -run shot in the fifth to make it 11-3, then Cam Hill hit one off the wall and scored on a wild pitch by Cole Stiles who relieved Newbourne. Then in the sixth Colton Carver ended the game with a walk off home run making it a 10-run lead.
Daly, playing second base and Rose at shortstop both made tough fielding plays behind pitcher Cam Hill who worked a clean inning in the third. Daly ranged far to his left to catch a pop fly to end a Buckhorn scoring threat in the sixth.
“Daly and Caden are both so good I can play them both at short and second and I switch them up. Mitch has great range and he made some plays that got us out of some innings. It’s a big help to our pitchers,” Smith said.
Cam Hill went the distance throwing 83 pitches. Both teams are struggling to find fresh arms having played area doubleheaders on Monday of this week.
Buckhorn especially because they were pushed to a deciding third game against James Clemens.
The series will resume Friday at Buckhorn with game time at 6 pm.
Bob Jones still must face two of Buckhorn’s top pitchers Trey Wright and Sebastian Lankford.
