It appears the Hoptown Hoppers may be getting hot at just the right time. A night after they finished strong for their third straight win, the Hoppers got off to a quick start at the plate and got a big start on the bound from Brayden Eftink as they came up with a big 10-3 road win over the Fulton Railroaders, the fourth straight victory for Hoptown.
Fulton fielding mistakes helped the Hoppers coming right out of the gate. The Railroaders were charged with two errors in the top of the first as the Hoppers scored twice to take the early 2-0 lead. Caden Buxton and Kolby Webb had RBI singles in the inning.
Fulton got a run back in the bottom half of the inning to make it a 2-1 game.
In the top of the second, the Railroaders ran into pitching issues with three walks in the inning. The Hoppers would end up scoring two runs, one on a bases-loaded walk, the other on another error, pushing the lead out to 4-1.
Fulton got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third, trimming the Hoptown lead to 4-2.
Brayden Eftink helped his own cause in the top of the fifth, leading off the inning with a shot over the fence in center, extending the Hoppers’ lead back out to three runs at 5-2.
Another Railroader error opened the door for the Hoppers to add two more runs in the top of the 6th as the Hopkinsville lead grew to 7-2.
Fulton got an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th to close to within 7-3.
Hoptown added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth to lock down the win.
Eight different Hoppers had a hit in the game. Ethan Landis finished 2-6 with four runs scored. Jacob Bly went 2-2 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.
Brayden Eftink started and got the win for the Hoppers, going seven innings, giving up two runs, one of them earned, on four hits, striking out 10 and walking four.
