Clutch Pitching, 3rd Inning Key In Dragons Win Over Heritage

Yesterday afternoon, the PHS Dragons varsity baseball team hosted the Generals of Heritage in game one of a crucial three-game series. Coming into the ball game, Pickens was 12-6 overall, & 6-3 in 6-AAAA, good for 3rd. Heritage, came in ranked as high as 3rd in some 4-A polls & were 15-5 overall & 7-2 in 6-AAAA, good for 2nd.

 

Senior Travis Huffman got the call to start the series opener & pitched a beautiful game. T. Huffman worked around a single to strike out two in the top of the 1st to send us to the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the frame, a two-out single was all the Dragons would manage as we headed to the 2nd, tied at 0. Pickens got out of the top of the 2nd without any damage done and had a real opportune chance to get something going in the bottom of the inning, but would leave them loaded as we’d go to the 3rd, still scoreless.

 

In the top of the 3rd, T. Huffman continued his great outing adding two more strikeouts to his total, sending us to the bottom half of the inning. Four straight hits, including an RBI from Wyatt Gooch & Zack Moore gave the Dragons a 2-0 lead over Heritage going to the 4th. In the top of the 4th, the Generals cut the Dragon lead in half with a solo home run, making it 2-1. The Dragons went in order in the bottom of the frame, sending us to the 5th.

 

T. Huffman ended the Heritage 5th with a K to bring his total to 5 & keeping Pickens ahead 2-1 as we headed to the bottom of the inning. The Generals again were able to sit the Dragons down in order in the bottom of the 5th to send us to the 6th. The Generals again were shut down in the top of the 6th as Pickens kept a hold of the slim 2-1 lead. The Dragons had a chance to stretch the lead to two, but was unable to as we headed to the 7th inning.

 

In the top of the 7th, Heritage had the bases loaded with two outs, looking to either tie it, or take their first lead of the ball game. Neither would happen as T. Huffman got the batter to pop up and the Dragons were able to hang on and get a huge win over the Generals, 2-1.

 

Travis Huffman: 7IP, 1R, 1ER, 7H, 6K on 96 pitches

Dalton Presley: 2-3 with 2 singles

Dominic Stephens: 1-3 with a single & 1 run scored

Wyatt Gooch: 1-3 with 1 double & 1 RBI

Zack Moore: 1-2 with 1 walk, 1 single, & 1 RBI

Brady Moore: 1 run scored

 

Pickens & Heritage now find themselves tied for 2nd in 6-AAAA with 7-3 records. These two teams will meet again on Thursday at Heritage for the 2nd game of the series. The series finale will be Friday at Dragons Field. Both games have a start time of 5:30 p.m.