The visiting Clarksville WhirlyBirdz posted 12 first-inning runs on Wednesday to hand the Hoptown Hoppers a third consecutive defeat with a 15-5 seven-inning rout.
Hoptown starting pitcher Cody Jones struck out the first batter of the game but wouldn’t record another out before exiting after Carson Hepworth’s grand slam made it 8-0.
After the Hoppers walked the bases loaded, Alec Beaman followed with a two-run single, Merrick Carter doubled in a run, and Blaze Bell made it 12-0 with a run-scoring single.
In the top of the 2nd, back-to-back RBI singles by Josh Sanchez-Harris and Andrew Jordan off Hoptown’s John Girard stretched the margin to 14 runs. Girard lasted three and two-thirds, allowing three earned runs on nine hits with a strikeout.
The Hoppers got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 3rd on a Clarksville error and an RBI single by Stephen Bell and made it 14-4 in the 4th with an RBI by Manuel Villalobos and Bell’s second run-scoring single.
Hepworth capped a five-RBI night with an RBI single in the 5th to close out the scoring for Clarksville. The Hoppers got a run back in their final at-bat on Chase Cummings RBI single but couldn’t avoid the mercy rule after seven frames.
Jones took the loss for Hoptown, giving up eight runs, two earned, on four hits with a pair of walks and a strikeout.
Bell finished with three hits, and five other Hoppers hit safely once.
Chipper Harris earned the win on the mound with four innings of work. He allowed four runs, two earned, on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Jay Watson came on in relief, holding the Hoppers to a single run on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts over three frames.
Bell led the WhirlyBirdz at the plate with a five-for-five night. Lawson Stricklin had two hits, Carter was two for four with four RBI, and Hepworth drove in five runs on three hits.
The Hoppers will look to end their skid on Thursday when they welcome the Madisonville Miners to Hopkinsville. The Miners were 8-2 winners in the teams’ first meeting earlier this week.
