Hart took a West Michigan Conference Rivers doubleheader from county foe Hesperia Tuesday, 14-3 and 8-5.
The
Pirates took advantage of eight Hesperia errors to score 11 unearned
runs in the game. They scored multiple runs in all four innings they
stepped to the plate, polishing off the mercy-rule win in five innings.
"We
didn't play the
cleanest game ourselves, but we'd always seem to get ourselves out of
it," Hart coach Kyle Weiler said, noting his team's five errors.
Hollis
Rockwell opened the scoring with his first-inning RBI single, and
errors helped Hart go ahead 4-0 after two innings. Hesperia's Weston
Hasted laced an RBI double, one of his three hits in the game, to get
the Panthers on the board in the third, but Hart scored three times in
the third and seven in the fourth. Joseph Osorio had the big hit in the
final frame, a three-run double.
Aiden Cull pitched the game
for Hart, allowing only three hits and two earned runs. He struck out
two without walking a batter. Pascal Miller led the Pirate bats with two
hits, scoring twice. Caden VanGelderen scored three times and Halen
Boos and Cull had two runs each.
Hasted crushed a two-run home
run in the fifth inning for Hesperia and had all three of his team's
RBI. Hasted also pitched three innings and did not allow an earned run.
He struck out six and gave up five hits.
Hart jumped ahead 4-0
after two innings again in game two, fueled by a two-run VanGelderen
double in the second, but this time the Panthers stayed competitive.
Hasted got Hesperia on the board with a RBI single and Evan Conkle
followed with his own RBI single to make it 4-2.
The score
stayed that way until the fifth, when VanGelderen and Sawyer Boos
smacked consecutive RBI doubles as part of a three-run inning. Abe
Escobedo came back with a RBI single for Hesperia in the bottom of the
fifth, but Hart closed out the win.
Rockwell got the win,
striking out two and allowing nine hits. Hart played a better defensive
game in game two, Weiler said, with only two errors.
"He is really showing his senior leadership by continuing to
show up when we need him, either at the plate or on the mound," Weiler said of Rockwell.
Escobedo had three hits and three RBI, and Conkle and Hasted each had
two hits. Eric Chaney threw 3 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on
four hits, with four strikeouts.
Weiler said he's been pleased with his team's competitive mindset this season.
"I am
impressed with this group's ability not to give up or shut down," Weiler said. "In their
minds, they are always in it, no matter the score."
