When batters for both Hayden and Mortimer Jordan started smacking the ball around early, a couple of spectators joked about the total runs for the game getting up around 27 or so.
It didn’t get that far out of hand, thanks in part to Skylar Myrick.
The Blue Devils closer came in for the fifth inning, and shut down the Wildcats just long enough for his teammates to give him a four-run cushion.
Myrick needed half of that, as he got out of a seventh-inning jam with minimal damage and an 11-9 victory in Friday’s area baseball game.
Myrick struck out four batters in three innings, and when left-fielder Jerad Hargett’s two-out single brought home two runs in the seventh, he then induced shortstop Dusty Harrison to hit a grounder back to the mound, which Myrick tossed to first to end the game.
“I have a lot of confidence in Skylar,” said Jordan coach Shayne Carnes. “You go with the best in that situation. He’s our little bulldog.”
It was a contest that saw plenty of big-bat baseball, including a three-run homer by Hayden starting pitcher Seth Gardener to left center field in the first inning.
But Gardner soon served up a similar ball to Devils’ third baseman Jesse Stanley, who sent it over nearly the exact same place beyond the fence for his own three-run shot.
Though hitting was in full force, defense was a problem for both teams. Jordan took the lead back in the second inning on an error, a hit batsman, a bunt and a Josh Grooms sacrifice fly. The Hayden came back with two runs in the third, with Cameron Cooper’s single being the lone hit among walks, errors and more hit batsmen.
Balks were also a problem for Myrick and freshman starter Orion Recke. One of Recke’s two balks sent home a Wildcat run.
Hayden went back in the lead in the fourth after a Harrison double, followed by two Devils errors that brought in two unearned runs. But Jordan tied it back up at 7-7 with a Grooms hit, a Myrick bunt, two walks and a passed ball.
Jordan went up again in the fifth when first baseman James Hammock singled, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored on another error, this time by Hayden reliever Nathan Turley.
That’s when Myrick came in to shut the Wildcats down.
Jordan took the lead for good in the sixth when a triple by pinch-hitter C.T. Wood scored Myrick and Stanley. Wood then came home on a sacrifice fly by Hammock.
Myrick was 2-for-3 at the plate, while Stanley was 1-for-2 with three RBIs and three runs scored. He also reached on a walk and an error.
Harrison pitched the final two innings for Hayden and was charged with the loss. He was also 2-for-5 hitting with a pair of doubles.
“Our pitching was pretty good, and our bats were working, but our defense was a problem,” Hayden coach Kim Hargett said. “When you score nine runs, you ought to win a game.”
The teams play each other in a doubleheader at Hayden on Saturday afternoon.
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Related Photos
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Hayden shortstop Dusty Harrison tries to sneak behind Mortimer Jordan baserunner Taylor Williams during Friday’s 11-9 Blue Devils victory. Robert Carter
Discussion
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