WEST POINT – The Warriors had the sticks going early and often versus Good Hope Friday afternoon, taking care of the Raiders in five innings.
After David Doss sat the Raiders down in order to open the game, West Point went to work. Levi Allred led off the West Point half of the first with an infield single and quickly moved to second on a bad pickoff throw to first. The next Warrior struck out, bringing Christopher Martin to the plate where he promptly smashed an RBI double to score Allred. Martin then swiped third but was thrown out at home trying to score on a passed ball. Rylan Jones then drew a walk and was followed by Kolton Easterwood and Noah Gammon singles that loaded the bases. Matthew McDonald followed with an RBI walk to make the score 2-0. Cameron Bates had the big blow in the inning with a two-run single to put the Warriors on top 4-0.
Good Hope broke through in the top of the third, starting the inning with back-to-back walks earned by Deven Gowens and Malachi Holt. Zach Isbell moved them up with a sacrifice bunt to put Gowens and Holt in scoring position. They came home on the second pitch of the at-bat when Gage Henke raked a hot shot to second that hand-cuffed the Warrior defender and allowed Gowens and Holt to score, making the score 4-2 in favor of the Warriors after two and a half innings.
West Point came back with a vengeance in their half of the third, sending 13 hitters to the dish and scoring seven runs. Noah Allison, Bates and Easterwood each had two RBIs in the inning, while Jones added one to push the Warrior lead to 11-2. Two innings later, West Point ended the game with a Gammon single that scored Blake Diestelow to push the lead to 10 and invoked the mercy rule.
West Point snagged their first win of the season to improve to 1-4. They will take the field next on Monday against the Hanceville Bulldogs. Good Hope falls to 2-2 and will face Fairview Monday.
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