By Adam Rouse
Staff Writer
KNIGHTSTOWN
ââ?¬â?? With temperatures slowly but surely creeping past 50 degrees, the diamonds of
Indiana are
beginning to be filled with the pounding of gloves and the ding! of bats.
Behind a
trio of pitchers and senior Andrew Clark�s powerful stick March 29, the New
Palestine Dragons defeated host Knightstown, 7-2, to improve to 2-0 on the
young season. Class 3A�s third-ranked team struck for three runs early and
never looked back as senior righthander Shane Highsmith (1-0) tossed four
scoreless innings for his first victory of the year.
The
Dragons (2-0) went to work quickly in the top of the first. After leadoff
hitter Jake Lee lined out to center for the first out, New Palestine collected
five straight hits to take a 3-0 advantage.
Junior
Chris Story blooped a single to right field and advanced to third on Clark�s opposite-field double down the left-field line.
Story would score on a wild pitch from Knightstown righty Mike Guinn, but it
wouldn�t matter as senior Danny Collier singled up the middle to bring home
Clark and make it 2-0.
New Palestine proceeded to
load the bases after a pair of singles from senior Chris Ulrey and junior J.D.
Hill. Guinn then uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning to plate Collier,
giving the visitors a 3-0 lead.
Still with
just one out, Guinn received what pitchers want most when in a jam ââ?¬â?? a double
play. However, it wasn�t a conventional 4-6-3 or 6-4-3 ground-ball double play.
Junior Adam Gerlach lined into a 4-3 two-ball after Panther second baseman
Jordan Bearhope fielded the hot shot and threw to first to double up the
runner.
Highsmith
was able to cruise through the first inning, retiring the side in order before
running into a bit of trouble in the second.
Following
a successful sacrifice bunt by senior Dustin Cronk that moved runners up to
second and third with one out, Highsmith walked junior Jace Butler before
striking out sophomore Chad Oakes. He then got senior Kile Riggs to ground out,
ending the threat.
Over the
next two frames, Highsmith limited the Panthers (0-1) to just one hit, but he
but did walk a pair of batters and hit another in four innings.
The righty
received the win after allowing zero runs on two hits while striking out two.
Highsmith also walked two and hit two.
Highsmith
helped his own cause with a RBI single in the third (unearned) to increase the
Dragons� lead to 4-0. Clark then made it 5-zip
in the top of the fourth with an opposite-field home run to left field.
After
Highsmith exited following the fourth inning, Class 2A No. 13 Knightstown was able to take
advantage of a costly error by third baseman Hill.
Junior
Justin Cole came on to relieve Highsmith and promptly struck out pinch-hitter
Ross Matlock. It appeared as if the second out would be recorded easily with a
routine grounder to Hill, but the junior�s throw pulled Collier off the bag,
allowing senior Tyler Roberts to reach first.
Cole got
Bearhope to ground out to short for the second out, but football hero Eric
Freeman used the extra out to belt a two-run homer to left center, cutting the
deficit to 5-2.
Knightstown
never seriously threatened the rest of the way as the Dragons added insurance
runs in the sixth and seventh innings to determine the final score.
Cole
pitched the fifth and sixth, allowing just the two unearned runs, and Story
came on to pitch a scoreless seventh.
Guinn
(0-1) suffered the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on 8 hits in 4
1/3 innings. The righthander also hit two batters and walked two in addition to
throwing the pair of wild pitches.
Clark, the
Mississippi recruit who is considered one of
the best players in the state of Indiana
as well as the nation, went 3-for-5 with a home run and two doubles.
Collier
also collected a multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 effort, including a double and
an intentional walk.
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