After a rocky start to the 2015 season, the Bainbridge Bearcats were able to take advantage of runners in scoring position Monday for back-to-back 10-0 wins against Dougherty.
The Bearcats improved to 2-4-1 for the season.
“We’re 2-0 in region and everyone else has played one game,” coach Brian McCorkle said. “So they’ll be chasing us for a few days.”
Sophomore Carson Inlow led the offense in game one, going 3-for-4 at the plate. He banged out two singles, one in the second and one in the third, and doubled in the fourth, yielding two RBIs and a run.
Ty Varnum pitched all five innings, allowing only three hits and racking up nine strikeouts.
The Bearcats exploded in the bottom of the second inning when senior Blake Merchant singled to send Hayden Godwin home, kicking off a six-run rally that saw the full line-up step up to the plate.
Key at-bats were Clark Wiggins bunting to drive in Seth Hall, Keith Lyle singling to left field to plate Wiggins and Inlow, Tyler Storey singling to drive home Will Kelley and Storey scoring on a an error at first base.
Bainbridge added another four runs in the bottom of the fourth to cap the game off 10-0 and finish early due to the mercy rule.
Hall was 2-for-2 in the second game, hitting a double and a single and plating three Bearcats.
Cayden McQuaig took the mound and allowed only two hits while striking out seven.
Bainbridge lit it up quickly with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Russell Wheeler was walked with bases loaded, sending in Noah Bryant. Later, Hall doubled to left field and drove in Keith Lyle and Russell Wheeler. In the bottom of the second inning, Kelley hit a sacrifice fly that plated Long. Lyle then found home on a passed ball and sent the score to 5-0.
In the third inning, Merchant scored on an error and Anderson Bailey scored on a pop up single to second base, bumping the score to 7-0. Bailey scored again in the fifth inning, followed by Dustin Hodge and Long to end the game early again at 10-0.
“We were hitting with runners in scoring position,” McCorkle said. “Last night we got over the hump a little bit and got some guys in.”
Yet even sweeping the doubleheader didn’t mask the problems McCorkle has with the team’s playing.
“We got plenty to work on all over the field,” he said. “We played really well last night defensively, but even with back-to-back 10-0 wins, we got to do a better job at the plate. We got to just keep playing defense.”