The Trigg County Wildcats and Heritage Christian Academy Warriors baseball teams opened their seasons against one another on Thursday evening at the Trigg County Recreational Complex. The Wildcats were able to take advantage of their home field and get the 12-9 win.
Heritage Christian struck hard early with five runs in the first inning. The team took three straight walks to begin the game, and then two ground balls drove in two runs. Another walk then loaded the bases, then a fifth free pass, a balk, and a single made it 5-0 before Trigg finally ended it with a strikeout.
A single from HCA’s Caden Hale in the top of the third inning extended the Warriors’ lead to 6-0, but that is when the Wildcats were finally able to get their offense going.
John Humphries drove in Trigg’s first run of the game with a double, then a pair of singles from Brody Calhoun and Noah Hawkins cut the lead to just two runs.
The Wildcats were then able to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Hawkins drew a walk with the bases loaded to lead Trigg to take a 7-6 lead.
Trigg capitalized on a few Heritage Christian errors in the fifth and loaded the bases with no outs, and then three straight walks gave the Wildcats three runs. Then a ground out and a hit by pitch firmly put Trigg in the driver seat with a 12-6 lead.
The Warriors put together three runs in the top of the sixth, but it was too little too late, and the Wildcats were able to grab a win in their first game of the season.
James Garnett pitched the majority of the game for Trigg with five innings, and he was able to rack up six strikeouts in that time.
Hawkins led the Wildcats in RBIs with three, while Humphries, Calhoun, and Ty Gootee were each able to drive in two runs apiece.
As for the Warriors, Hale and Caden Gresham led the way with two hits each.
HCA will look to right the ship in their first home game of the season against the Trojans of Webster County on Saturday, March 21. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Heritage Christian Academy.
On the flip side, the Wildcats will be hoping that they can start a win streak in their next one on Friday, March 20, against the Caldwell Tigers. That game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Caldwell County High School.
