Montgomery Central Indians Baseball loses Home Opener to Rossview Hawks, 12-6

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Clarksville, TN – The sun was out and the last remnants of snow had finally melted away for the beginning of the high school baseball season Monday, March 10th.

Among the many local teams playing on freshly- raked, red clay, two recent champions squared off for their first game of the season.

Montgomery Central Baseball loses to Rossview Hawks Monday.

The 2013 District 11-AA Regular season and Tournament Champions, Montgomery Central Indians, opened at home against the District 10-AAA regular season and Tournament Champions for the last three seasons, Rossview Hawks.

The Hawks looked ready for title number four as they overpowered the Indians 12-6.

Both teams took advantage of early errors to score runs, but the Hawks defense settled in behind solid pitching and held the Indians scoreless for four innings.

Meanwhile, the Hawks offense continued to find the gaps throughout the game and hung 12 runs on the Indians.

Blake Hunter did most of the heavy lifting from the mound for the Hawks. In five innings of work he gave up only 2 runs from 4 hits and struck out 9.

Blake Kiely closed the game in the seventh for the Hawks. He was caught in a small Indians rally, allowing 3 runs from 5 hits.

Indians starting pitcher, T.J. Sauers had a tough day on the mound. In 3 2/3 innings, he was tagged for 5 runs from 8 hits and made only one kill. The Indians three pitchers combined for six strike outs in the game.

Austin Davis led the Hawks offensive charge. Davis batted 4-for-4 with 5 RBI. Davis came into the game in the second inning, replacing Truman Brown who was injured in a collision with the catcher while chasing a fly ball.

The Hawks produced 14 hits in the game and produced at least two runs in five of the seven innings.

Tied 2-2 going into the second inning, Colin Baber got the Hawks’ offense going again when he hit one that hugged the third-base line into left field for a double. The next Hawks’ batter was walked, setting up Lawson Moquin who sent a shot into the corner of the left field for a 2RBI Triple.

Next, on his first at bat of the game, Davis hit a double that brought Moquin in and gave the Hawks a 5-2 lead. The Indians failed to score again until the bottom of the sixth. By then they were down 9-3.

The Indians were down 12-3 when they took their last at bat at the bottom of the seventh inning. They mounted a small rally, scoring 3 runs with five hits. Santino Miranda hit a double up the middle that scored one. Joshua Rye cranked one to the fence that brought in two more. Miranda led the Indians batting 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Next the Hawks will play Mt. Juliet at home Tuesday, March 11th at 6:30pm. The Indians will stay at home to face Clarksville High School Tuesday night at 6:30pm as well.