Photo by Cindy Dougherty
The Hoptown Hoppers followed up Monday night’s early offense with a commanding 9-0 lead after two innings at Fulton on Tuesday night.
However, the Hoppers couldn’t hold on as they fell behind after the eighth inning and couldn’t retake the lead in the ninth to lose the decision, 14-13.
Offense wasn’t an issue for Hoptown, though, as they were .348 at the plate as a team. Blake Jackson led the way, going 3-6 for three singles and as many RBI with a run scored.
Aidan Elias and Ryan Traylor also had three hits a piece while Max Remy had three RBI.
Cord Johnson, Davis Keller, Malik Blaise and Traylor each had two runs scored
Pitching, though, was an issue that has stayed afloat as of late.
Hoptown gave up 12 hits and seven walks while striking out just six.
Cody Hartness gave up three hits, as many runs and a walk in 2/3 innings pitched to take the loss.
Conner Brandon earned the win for the Railroaders.
The Hoppers will control their fate heading into Wednesday night’s regular season finale against the Madisonville Miners. With a win, Hoptown will clinch the top seed in the OVL West division. With a loss + a win by the Paducah Chiefs, they’ll drop to the second seed.
First pitch on Wednesday is set for 7 P.M. at Colonel Field.
