Prep Baseball: Scoring Explosion

One big inning is all that separated Harrisburg and Eldorado in a crosstown showdown Thursday at the Eldorado Sports Complex.

The Bulldogs took advantage of the Eagles in the third inning, scoring seven runs to beat Eldorado 9-3.

After Harrisburg put up a run in the first inning on an RBI single by Cooper Thompson, scoring his brother Sykes, the Bulldogs went to work in the top half of the third with six hits.

Sykes Thompson led off the inning with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out by Cooper Thompson. Austin Hefner then blooped a single over the head of Eldorado second baseman Josh Pilkington to score Sykes, while Noah Vallette's fly ball single to center, advanced Hefner to third. Britton Riden then came through with a two RBI single, scoring Hefner and Britton and that was followed by a Bryce Emery double to centerfield, moving Tyler Sullivan, who was pinch running for Riden to third. Patrick Bittle then singled to center field to score Sullivan and following a foul out by Carson Batts, Matthew Phipps was hit by a pitch. Emery later scored on a passed ball and on the throw in that got past Eldorado starter Drew Woolcott, Bittle provided the seventh run of the inning.

Eldorado responded with three runs in the bottom of thee third as Connor Watt led the inning off with a walk. Kale Oglesby bloop single to right field, advanced Watt to third and he scored on a single up the middle by Adam Collier. That followed a Stanton Hathaway single to load the bases and both Pilkington and Woolcott provided fielder's choice RBI to score Oglesby and Collier.

The final run for Harrisburg came in the fourth inning when Hefner, who led off the inning with a stand up double, scored on a wild pitch.

"We hit some balls hard today," Harrisburg head coach Jay Thompson said of his club, especially in that third inning. "It wasn't our best day at the plate, but their pitchers, pitched well. Again, we threw strikes and played well defensively and were able to keep the score down."

For Eldorado head coach Ryan Gray, missed opportunities on routine plays got the better of his ballclub.

"Harrisburg did a great job of putting the ball in play, they hit the ball hard all day. I felt like both of our pitchers threw strikes and mixed speeds, but obviously the one big inning where we didn't make the routine plays, that I feel had we made them, it's a different ball game.

"Anytime you don't make the routine play, it's going to add up," Gray added. "Most of the time, if you can keep a team from putting up a crooked number, you have a chance."

Sykes Thompson led the Harrisburg offense with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate, scoring two runs, while Hefner was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Cooper Thompson, Vallette, Riden, Emery, Bittle and Batts all went 1-for-2, while Riden had two RBI and Batts finished with one.

Aaron Johnson stood in the line for the win, taking over for Cooper Patterson, who worked the first three innings for Harrisburg.

Johnson worked three innings as well, allowing one hit, while striking out four and walking one.

Patterson allowed three earned runs on three hits, while striking out three and finishing with one walk.

Dalton Lamber got one inning of work for Harrisburg, striking out one.

Woolcott picked up the loss for the Eagles as he surrendered eight runs (five earned) on eight hits, while striking out two and walking one. Hathaway came on in relief and worked four innings, striking out three and giving up one run on one hit.

Hathaway went 2-for-3 at the plate for Eldorado, while Adam Collier, Kale Oglesby and Richard Graceffa each had a hit.

The win is the sixth straight for the Bulldogs, who have outscored opponents 52-8 over the last six games.

Thompson said there is no doubt in his mind his team is peaking at the right time.

"Yeah, we are. We're playing our best right now and I think we've run off like six in a row and the kids are playing with a lot of confidence right now."

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.