Rocks hold off Royals

The REPORTER

The Westfield baseball team held off a comeback by Hamilton Southeastern Thursday to win 7-6 at the Shamrocks’ field in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game.

The Shamrocks got on the board in the second inning when Aiden Grabowski doubled in Ian Wilson. Westfield added two runs in the third inning. Caden Lindsey led off with a triple, then Ethan Colling doubled him home. Andrew Noble (running for Colling) scored when Drew Law reached on an error.

The Royals’ Trey McManama hit a two-out double in the fourth inning, then scored HSE’s first run when Isaiah Hamilton doubled him home. Westfield got two runs in the fifth inning: Law batted in Jake Russell, then Wilson smacked a center field triple to score Law.

The Royals scored five runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead. Jackson Bixler singled in Cy Cole with the bases loaded. Parker O’Steen drew a walk to score McManama, then Hoog drew a walk to send Maddux Bach home. Clark Bucher sent a base hit into right field, scoring Bixler and Deacon Lewis (running for O’Steen).

But the Shamrocks regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Lindsey scored when Russell reached on an error, then Russell got home for the go-ahead run.

Law and Lindsey both had two hits. Corey Wilhelm got the pitching win; Jackson Blevins and Luke Collinsworth both threw three strikeouts. Cole was 3-for-3 at the plate for the Royals, with O’Steen hitting a double and McManama getting two hits. Hoog pitched 5.1 innings, striking out four.

Westfield is 15-8, while Southeastern is 10-16. The two teams play at 6 p.m. tonight at HSE’s Ken Seitz Field to complete the series.