The Hoptown Hoppers unleashed its own version ‘shock and awe’ as they used a 10-run first inning to beat the Owensboro RiverDawgs 12-6 Sunday on Military Appreciation Night at Colonel Field.
The first six Hopper batters reached base as 13 men went to the plate in the home half of the first. Cam Thompson led off the game with a home run to left.
Zayd Brannigan roped a bases-loaded double to left for a 4-1 Hopper lead. Brannigan finished with three RBIs in the game, putting him one off the Ohio Valley League lead.
Thompson laced a two-run single to left in his second at-bat of the inning to put the Hoppers up 7-1. Jake Parr followed with a three-run homer to left to cap the 10-run inning.
The RiverDawgs chipped away at the Hopper lead, scoring twice in the third inning and once in the fourth.
Tanner Holliman and Nico Montes roped back-to-back doubles in the fourth to extend the Hopper lead to 11-4.
Parr drove in his fourth run of the game with an RBI single in the seventh that plated Patrick Walker. The Purdue University sophomore finished with four hits and four RBIs.
Thompson added two hits and three runs knocked in from the leadoff spot, and JoJo Cruz, Holliman, and Montes each had two of Hoptown’s 14 hits. Both of Holliman’s hits were doubles.
Bracken Rice pitched three innings of one-hit baseball to get the win in relief. He notched three of the 13 strikeouts by Hopper pitchers.
The Hoppers improved to 11-10 and remain six games behind the Full Count Rhythm in third place in the OVL South. The Hoppers get two days off before returning to the diamond Wednesday against Muhlenberg County at Colonel Field.
