By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
The Jacksonville Red Devils have started a winning streak in their last three outings. The Red Devils swept Hall 9-0 and 13-0 Wednesday at Kanis Park in Little Rock.
The Warriors entered the game winless in conference play, but battled the Red Devils to a 2-0 score through five innings. In the sixth, their pitching and fielding fell apart and Jacksonville ran away with the game.
Jacksonville pitcher Jesse Harbin threw all seven innings, giving up just one base hit while striking out 10 and walking two.
Jacksonville got seven base hits, but no one had more than one. D’Vone McClure and Ragan Jones each had two RBIs in the victory. The Red Devils drew eight walks and left eight on base.
The Red Devils dominated from the outset of game two while Hall struggled to get pitches in the strike zone.
Three Warrior pitchers combined to walk 13 Red Devils, nine in the first two innings of the five-inning game.
“We just have to swing the bats better,” Jacksonville coach Larry Burrows said. “We did pretty well last week. Today I thought we could have done better than we did.”
Freshman James Tucker got the start on the mound in game two. He threw five innings, giving up four hits while striking out seven and walking no one.
Jacksonville got five base hits in game two.
Senior Ragan Jones reached on every at bat, getting one hit and walking three times.
Derek St. Clair got two RBIs to lead Jacksonville in that category. David Williams got the only extra-base hit, an RBI double to centerfield in the first inning.
A total of 15 different Jacksonville players got at least one at bat, and 13 of them reached base at least once.
The Red Devils (9-14, 4-6) are at Greenbrier at 2 p.m. today. They will travel to Parkview on Wednesday for another 6A East Conference doubleheader.
