HHS baseball wins 3 of 4

Designated hitter Derek Kelsey lived up to his billing Friday, going 4-for-5 with a pair of triples and five runs batted in to lead Hillsboro to a 7-5 baseball victory over Smoky Valley in Lindsborg.

Smoky Valley came back to take Game 2, 9-5, and salvaged a split of the doubleheader.

Coach Doug Dick said he felt good about the split.

?Smoky Valley is a much-improved team from last year,? he said. ?They returned almost their whole team from a year ago and play mostly seniors.?

In the opener, HHS scored three runs in its first at-bat, with Kelsey contributing a two-run triple.

Smoky Valley came back to tie the game in the third, then moved ahead, 5-3, with two more in the fourth against Trojan ace Jacob Edwards. Errors contributed to both surges.

Hillsboro tied the game in the fifth with another two-run triple by Kelsey. He and Edwards contributed RBI singles in the ninth to give Hillsboro its 7-5 lead.

Freshman pitcher Kale Arnold, who relieved Edwards in the fifth inning, pitched one-hit, shutout baseball the final 31?3 innings to earn the victory and improve his season mark to 3-0.

Edwards gave up five runs, three of them earned. He allowed two hits and walked four while striking out eight.

In Game 2, Smoky Valley roughed up starter Dylan Delk to put the Trojans in an 8-2 hole through three innings. Ediger and Ben Gardner combined to shut off the fireworks the rest of the way, allowing only one more run on six hits.

The Trojans closed the gap with a run on no hits in the fifth, then added two runs in the sixth on a triple by Edwards that scored Luke Moore and Jacob Fish, who had singled and walked, respectively.

Gardner was the only Trojan who managed more than one hit in the game, finishing 2-for-4.

Hoisington?The Trojans managed their first sweep of the season, taking both games from the host team at Hoisington, 15-14 and 13-3 last Tuesday.

Dylan Delk was the pitching star for HHS in Game 1, entering the game in relief with no one out in the seventh inning and the Cardinals rallying.

He was greeted with a single, and the next batter reached on an error to put the tying run at third base. But he retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat and the game.

Delk earned the save and preserved the win for starter Tyler Ediger, who pitched five innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on six hits, four walks and five strikeouts.

Jacob Fish and Lucas Sin?clair combined for an inning of relief, surrendering seven runs.

At the plate, Aaron Bina went 4-for-5 with three runs scored to pace Hillsboro?s 21-hit attack. Fish stroked a two-run home run for the Trojans.

In Game 2, freshman Kale Arnold pitched his second complete-game victory of the season, this one a 13-3 conquest that ended after five innings because of the run rule.

Arnold scattered five hits, walked two and struck out three to improve to 2-0.

Meanwhile, he had plenty of run support. Hillsboro scored a single run in the first, but then broke loose for four runs in the second, three in the third and four more in the fourth.

Leadoff man Fish went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs driven while Bina was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Bina and Ediger hit back-to-back triples in the second inning to account for four runs.

?Our bats are starting to come around,? coach Doug Dick said. ?We scored 28 runs off of 36 hits, and Hoisington only had one error on the night. We had six errors total?not good?but we managed to win both games.?

Coming?Hillsboro, 5-5 for the season, is scheduled to play at Lyons Friday. They will turn around and play at Nickerson Tuesday. Both doubleheaders begin at 4:30 p.m.

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