By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Ten unanswered runs after the third inning helped the Cabot Centennial Bank White Junior American Legion team beat the Cabot Junior Centennial Bank Red team 17-7 in six innings of play Thursday at the Cabot baseball complex in the first American Legion game of the year for either team.
The game looked as if it could go in either direction as the two teams were knotted up at 7-7 after three innings of play, but once Adam Hicks took the mound for Cabot White in the top of fourth, Cabot Red (0-1) failed to put a single base runner on the bags, and Cabot White (1-0) took advantage from there.
“We finally started hitting the ball, putting it in play and making things happen,” said Cabot White assistant coach Justin Moore. “Any time you put the ball in play and make the defense work, good things will happen. We kind of got off to a slow start. We threw a lot of balls and walked a lot of guys.
“They didn’t really kill us hitting the ball, but when we finally started throwing strikes the kids kind of settled in a little bit. Adam Hicks came in and shut it down and that’s what we needed. The first two, three innings we gave up runs. Then we finally started getting zeros and building some momentum, and fed off of that.”
Hicks earned the win on the hill after relieving Jonathan Latture, who gave up just three hits in his three innings of work, but Latture walked six batters in that time, which helped Cabot Red score its seven runs. Hicks struck out four batters through three innings, and didn’t give up a single walk or hit.
Cabot White took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to right field by Gavin Tillery. Hicks scored on the play after walking to start the inning.
Cabot White added five more runs in the fifth inning to gain a comfortable 13-7 advantage, and put the game away in the sixth with four runs.
Hicks drove in the first two runs of the inning with a one-out single to the left-field gap to put Cabot White up 15-7. A single to left-centerfield the next at bat by Latture, the team’s three-hole hitter, sent leadoff hitter Dylan Bowers across home plate to make it a nine-run game.
Shortly after, Dalten Hurst, who led all batters with three hits, drove in the game-ending run with a single to right field that allowed Hicks to score on the play. After Hicks crossed home plate, the game was called because of the 10-run after five innings sportsmanship rule.
“We are young,” said Cabot Red coach David Smith. “With them being young, a lot of them haven’t played a whole lot, and so you could tell with just some of the little things with the game of baseball they didn’t know. It’s going to come a little slower to them, but hopefully they can pick it up quick.
“The good thing is they came out and they fought. They came out here against an older veteran group and hung with them for three or four innings. They did a great job hitting it off of Latture, and when they brought in Hicks, Hicks shut it down. I was really impressed with them and they showed a lot of heart, but we’ve got a long ways to go.”
Cabot White outhit Cabot Red 12-3. After Hurst, Hicks and Latture were the only other players with multiple hits as they had two each.
Bowers, Tillery, Lee Sullivan, Tyler Tucker and Trent Frizzell had a hit apiece for Cabot White. Braden Jarnigan had two of Cabot Red’s hits. Wes Brown had the only other hit for Cabot Red.
