Baseball: Rocks come back, stun Bulldogs

The REPORTER

Westfield overcame a tough start on Friday to win a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game over Brownsburg 9-5 at the Shamrocks’ field, earning a sweep of the conference series.

The Bulldogs blasted out of the gate in the first inning, putting up five runs on four hits, including three doubles. Westfield got one of those runs back in the bottom of the first: Drew Law led off with a single, then scored on Matt Drozlek’s left field hit.

Lincoln Hoffman singled in Jake Russell in the second inning. The ‘Rocks defense stepped up, taking care of Brownsburg three-up, three-down in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Luke Collinsworth tossed six consecutive strikeouts from the third out of the second inning to the second out of the fourth.

Westfield took the lead in the fifth inning by scoring six runs. Drozlek batted in Russell with a left field hit, then Beck Jordan sent a hit into left field to bring in Hoffman and Law. Andrew Noble came in to run for Drozlek and Nick Fero sent him home with a center field hit to give the Shamrocks a 6-5 lead.

The ‘Rocks added two runs in the sixth inning. Caden Lindsey scored on Hoffman’s sacrifice fly, then Law got his third run of the game after being singled in by Johnny Ewing. Fero led off the seventh inning with a triple and was brought in by Anthony Cimini’s center field double.

Law, Drozlek and Fero all had two hits. Collinsworth pitched six innings for the win, striking out 12 against two hits and no walks.

Westfield is now 4-0 in conference play and 8-1 overall. The ‘Rocks play at Carmel on Monday.

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Hamilton Southeastern fell to Zionsville 6-2 in a Friday HCC game at Ken Seitz Field.

Both teams scored a run in the first inning; Maddux Bach put the Royals on the board when he got home on a wild pitch. The Eagles led off the second inning with a home run, then scored two more in the fourth for a 4-1 lead.

Bach batted in Southeastern’s second run in the fifth inning, hitting a single to bring in Colin Kendrick. Bach had two hits on the night. Dylan Cope threw four innings, striking out five.

The Royals are 0-4 in the conference and 4-6 overall. Southeastern hosts a doubleheader with Bloomington South today, with the first game starting at 11 a.m.

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Hamilton Heights dropped a 7-3 home game to Maconaquah on Friday.

The Huskies scored a run in the second inning when Dillon Pitts doubled in Nick Hulen. The Braves tied the game in the fourth inning, then added two runs in the fifth inning for a 3-1 lead.

Heights got those runs back in the bottom of the fifth, as Levi Chandler and Logan Hickman scored after P.J. Wright reached on an error, tying the game at 3-3. But Maconaquah clinched the game in the sixth inning with a two-run double and two-run home run.

The Huskies were held to three hits, with Pitts and Kyle Michael both hitting a double and Adam Hughes hitting a single. Kaden Lawson threw five strikeouts in 2.2 innings.

Heights is 2-5 and plays this morning at Clinton Prairie.