Charles Henderson blanks Opp in six
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 7, 2001
Sports Writer
TROY- The Charles Henderson high school baseball team scored eight runs in the first two innings against Opp Tuesday night. And CHHS freshman pitcher Pete Van Horn did the rest.
Van Horn pitched a complete game, two-hitter and Kevin Stephens smacked in three-run home run in a 10-0 win over Opp in six innings at Frazier Field.
"The last four or five games, we have put together a big inning in every game and that’s won for us," CHHS head coach Steve Garrett. "I like to see the runs spread out, but a win is a win and if you win with the big inning, so be it."
"We played error-less defense and that’s what we preach all the time, error-less defense and you win ball games," Garrett continued. "Even if it’s a low scoring game and we can only get two runs across the plate, if we play error-less defense, we got a chance to win and we did that tonight."
Van Horn fanned nine and walked two while picking up his first win of the year.
"Pete pitched real well," Garrett said. "He had three pitches working and he’s just a freshman so you can’t ask for much more from him. He did a great job."
The Trojans put three runs on the board in the first inning. After a one-out single by Will Jones, Kevin Stephens drove a ball off the right fielder’s glove putting runners at second and third. With two outs, Justin Sims’s single scored Jones and Stephens, giving the Trojans a 2-0 lead. Clint Pugh’s RBI single later in the inning gave CHHS a 3-0 advantage.
CHHS tacked on five more in the second inning, capped by Stephens’s three-run homer. LaKory Daniels walked to start the inning and Scott Stetson was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. Jones doubled home Daniels before Stephens’s drive over the right field wall. Barron singled and also scored on an error during the inning.
The Trojans ended the game in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Blake Phelps and Pugh started the inning with back-to-back walks. Phelps scored from third as Pugh stole second base and Van Horn followed with an RBI single to seal the win.
Jones lead CHHS with two hits and scored two runs and Sims also had two hits for CHHS.
The Trojans face Robert E. Lee in a doubleheader today, with first pitch set for 3:30 p.m. Garrett thinks Robert E. Lee should be very good and the games should be very competitive.
"We are just playing one game at a time and our philosophy is, if we play error-less defense, we can play with anybody. We’ve played well against Robert E. Lee in the past couple years and more than likely they’ll be very good and their going to be competitive."
"If these guys come out ready to play and play like they are capable of, that will really show a lot for our program and make a big statement if we go and take a couple from Robert E. Lee," Garrett added. "That would be huge."