Pleasant Home fights off McKenzie
Published 12:05 am Thursday, March 23, 2017
- Josh Ruth slides in with a steal of second. Josh Dutton/Star-News
The Pleasant Home Eagles fought back to knock off the McKenzie Tigers 6-5 Tuesday night in McKenzie.
McKenzie scored three runs in the opening inning off two singles, two walks and two errors.
Joe Gibbs drew a leadoff walk to start the top of the second inning and moved to second when Parker Lloyd reached off of an error.
The Eagles loaded the bases when J Hawkins drew a walk.
Joe Gibbs then scored on a steal of home and Lloyd came around to score on a sacrifice from Jon Cooley.
Justin Gibbs drew a walk and Josh Ruth was hit by a pitch to load the bases up for the Eagles, but a ground out ended the threat.
After Chris Shufford doubled to start the bottom of the fourth inning, a single scored him to put McKenzie up 4-2.
The Eagles cut into the lead when Joe Gibbs drove in Barton with a single in the top of the fifth.
A double from Cooley then tied the game 4-4.
Cooley drove in the winning run with a single to left in the top of the seventh inning.
“We didn’t play well early,” Pleasant Home head coach Chris Mason said. “A few errors in the field allowed them to get up, and our bats didn’t wake up until the fifth inning. Jon Cooley had two clutch hits with three RBIs. (Garrett) Barton struggled to consistently throw strikes, but battled and kept it close.”
Mason Kelley got the win on the mound for the Eagles.
“Mason Kelley came in for the win and pitched excellent,” Mason said. “He’s been a huge par of our success in the bullpen.”