CORDOVA, Ala. – Good Hope hit the road to take on Dora at Cordova High School Friday night for some baseball action and it took extra innings to decide the winner, but the Bulldogs edged out the Raiders 16-15.
The Raiders struck first in their opening at-bats. Preston Bagwell led off the game with a walk and later scored on an RBI single by Matt Hancock, but Dora scored its first two runs courtesy of a Good Hope error and added another on an RBI double. Caleb Rusk led off the Raider second with a walk; he later stole home and Hancock tied the game up at three with an RBI double.
The Bulldogs got hit by the pitch with the bases loaded and drew a walk to make it 5-3 in their half of the inning. Jager Burns and Colton Williams each got hit by the pitch to lead off the Good Hope third and Rusk hit an RBI double to make it 5-4. Braxton Marshall lined a two-run double to right field to give the Raiders a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the third.
Dora responded with a huge inning of its own as Good Hope committed five errors, which turned into an eight-run inning for the Bulldogs, and they went into the fourth inning up 13-6. The Raiders looked to chip into that deficit in the fifth inning as they loaded the bases for Burns, who hit a sacrifice fly to make it a six-run game. Austin Wright got hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth inning and he came around to score on a Peyton Bagwell RBI single that made it 13-8, but the Bulldogs increased their lead to 15-8 in the bottom of the inning on a pair of passed balls.
Good Hope looked to keep its chances alive in its final at-bats. They loaded the bases with no outs for Marshall, who drew a walk to bring in a run. Cole Maddox then hit an RBI single and Bagwell drew another walk to make it a 15-11 game. One out later, Hancock continued his huge game by lining a three-run triple to right field that cut the lead to just one. A balk by Dora brought home Hancock to tie the game at 15 and Dora couldn't score in its half, sending the game into extra innings.
Neither team brought home a run in the eighth inning, but Dora managed to bring in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to take the game, 16-15.
Hancock finished with four hits, five RBIs and a run for Good Hope. Marshall had a huge game as well, finishing with three hits, three RBIs and two runs. Bagwell added two RBIs, and Burns, Rusk and Maddox each chipped in with an RBI as well. The Raiders are now 0-3, having lost their first three by a combined eight runs, and they will look to get their first win of the season when they host Winston County on Monday.
Copyright 2019 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
