Dragon baseball endures busy week
An early 2-0 lead, alongside the combined pitching efforts of Dalton Hutcheson, Trent Naylor, and Sam West, nearly gave the Cameron High School baseball team the momentum needed to carry out a win against the Richmond Spartans on Monday, March 28, for the first home game of the season.
Two runs, scored in the bottom of the second by Colby Gerber and Dalton Erickson, went unanswered until top of the fifth inning, when Richmond brought in two runs to tie the game. With only one out, Senior Trent Naylor relieved fellow Senior Dalton Hutcheson on the pitching mound. Hutcheson ended the game with a 1.62 ERA.
The Dragons reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Junior Lane Widner bringing in Sophomore Sam West.
West replaced Naylor on the mound in the top of the seventh. West attempted to hold the Spartans to only 2 runs (to the Dragons’ 3), to end the game. He obtained two outs, with two walks in between, before allowing the Spartans a home run. Richmond led, for the first time in the game, 3-5 going into the bottom of the seventh. The Dragons were unable to answer, and finished the game with a score of 3-5.
“We pitched good enough to win on Monday, but couldn’t get the clutch hits when we needed them.” Head Coach Nathan Moore said. “We left 9 runners on base at crucial situations.”
The Dragons suffered another loss the subsequent Thursday, losing 12-1 to the Savannah Savages, before sweeping the day on Saturday, April 2. The team beat Van Horn in both of the day’s games, winning 17-4, and 17-0.
“We are young, and progressing with each week. Expectations are still high, and we feel we have the pitching and offense to keep us in a lot of games. We are a solid team when we throw strikes. The MEC is a solid conference, so we will be tested throughout the season.” Moore said.
The team faced off against St. Joseph Lafayette on Monday, April 4. They will play Plattsburg at home on Wednesday, April 6, and Maryville at home the following Thursday. The 100 inning game fundraiser will be held at 4:00 PM on Friday, April 8 at Cameron’s Park Valley Baseball Complex.