Luckily for the Hopkinsville High School baseball team they’ll get another shot at Clarksville Northeast in less than 48 hours. Playing against the Eagles in the first of two games to open the 2023 season, the Tigers couldn’t hold an early lead and fell 15-4 in Monday’s opener.
Hoptown junior JJ Thompson, who transferred to HHS from Heritage Christian Academy over the summer, tossed two perfect innings to start the game and appeared locked in by striking out five of the first six batters he faced. The wheels came off for the highly-ranked southpaw in the third, however, as Northeast struck for a four-spot and took the lead for good.
Thompson, who has already committed to Wright State University, finished with seven strikeouts in just three innings, but ended up walking three and allowing four runs (three earned) in his first start with the Tigers. The Eagles proceeded to blow the game open with seven runs in the sixth and used a two-out, two-run triple in the seventh to cap the win.
Hopkinsville did jump ahead first during Monday’s tilt when University of Kentucky commit Zach Moss drew a two-out walk and scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the first. But the Clarksville squad countered in the third, using a pair of bases-loaded walks and an RBI double to surge ahead.
Tigers eighth-grader Dylan Sweeney did all he could to keep Hoptown in it early on. His two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third cut the Northeast advantage to 4-2. HHS then got within 6-4 of the Eagles on Sweeney’s two-out, two-run single in the fifth, but that would be the extent of the Tiger scoring. Sweeney went 3-for-3 with a team-high three RBI.
Northeast, which will host Hoptown to complete the home-and-home series Wednesday, was led by Christopher Collins, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Half of his game-high four RBI came on the aforementioned triple in the final inning. The Eagles got hits from eight of their nine starters.
Noah Ernst racked up six free passes on the mound, but did strike out eight and scattered three hits in 4 1/3 innings to earn the victory. NEHS struck out a total of 11 Tigers.
Freshman clean-up hitter Thomas Hallmark joined Sweeney with a multi-hit effort. He went 2-for-4 with a run. Moss stole two bases and scored twice. Hallmark also struck out five in relief but allowed seven hits and nine runs (two earned) in three innings on the mound. Hopkinsville is scheduled to play four games during its first week of the campaign.
