LINDEN – North Montgomery showed they can win by not playing their best on Tuesday with a 12-5 win over Sagamore Conference foe Western Boone. The Chargers earned the win by showing patience and perseverance according the Charger Coach Matt Voorhees.
“Give our guys credit for grinding it out even when things did not go our way early”, Voorhees said. “We hit the ball hard all night but some of them were right at them. We finally put the game away in the sixth inning with those six runs.
The Stars got on the scoreboard in the first inning when Western Boone’s Gavin Hawkins singled to start the game and Luke Jackson planted a Kirsch fastball over the left field fence for the 2-0 lead.
North Montgomery (5-1, 1- 0 SAC) was held scoreless for their first two at-bats as Star lefty Jackson Grimes kept the Chargers at bay.
North took the lead for good when they plated four runs in the third inning benefiting for a hit batter, two walks and an Star error. Charger Dylan Braun did have an RBI single. The Chargers led after the inning was over 4-2.
The Stars looked as if they would have a productive third inning when Carter Marcum led off the inning with a triple to center field. But Charger starter Jarrod Kirsch stopped the threat by striking out the next three batters.
North Montgomery extended their lead to 5-2 when Brookes Walters hit a triple scoring Cade Cole.
Western Boone (4-2, 0-1) was not ready to lay over. The Stars pushed across two runs in the fifth inning when Jackson had a 2-RBI double.
In the decisive sixth frame, North plated their six runs on three hits. Noah Hopkins, who collected two hits on the day, had a 2-RBI double in the inning. The next batter, Austin Sulc, hit a double to right center field that hit off the fence scoring Hopkins.
The Stars added a run in the seventh inning off reliever Ross Dyson when Hawkins scored on a Charger error after starting the inning with a triple.
Kirsch struck out 12 batters. Nine of the strikeouts were recorded when the lefty struck out the side in the first, second and fourth innings. The junior hurler threw 116 pitches in the game and walked four batters.
“We told the team that it was good we stayed poised and did not panic”, Voorhees said. “Jarrod kept battling and he stayed around the plate the whole game.”
The Chargers and Stars will battle again at 5:30 p.m. in Dover. Voorhees said the Stars are a much improved team and expects the Stars play well on their home field.
“Hats off to Western Boone,” Voorhees said. “Their program is turning around and their coaches are doing a great job. We are going to have to stand in there and keep battling at the plate and play good defense.”
