Prep Baseball: Bragging Rights

The Harrisburg High School baseball team took cross county bragging rights, sweeping the series against Eldorado as the Bulldogs escaped with a 3-0 victory Wednesday at Doris Heights.

Harrisburg honored its seniors after the game, but during the contest, they stepped up.

Senior Cooper Thompson ripped an RBI double to left field to score his brother Sykes after Sykes reached on a bunt single.

In the fifth inning, Carson Batts led the inning off with walk and scored on a wild pitch, while another senior Matthew Phipps singled into left field to score Patrick Bittle.

There wasn't much scoring, but after a long lay off for the Bulldogs, head coach Jay Thompson expected his team to struggle.

"It was a good day for the seniors," Thompson said. "We hadn't played in a few days and our timing was off. (Stanton) Hathaway did a good job of keeping us off balance, but I thought Sykes pitched really well and stayed in the strike zone. It was just nice to be back out on the field, it seems like we haven't played for about a week."

Hathaway took the loss on the bump for Eldorado, allowing three runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking one.

Sykes Thompson picked up the win for the Bulldogs, scattering four hits, while striking out five.

Kale Oglesby was 2-for-3 for the Eagles, while Adam Collier and Hathaway each had singles.

Harrisburg was paced by Sykes Thompson's 2-for-3 performance, while Matthew Phipps, Cooper Thompson, Noah Vallette and Patrick Bittle all had a hit.

Harrisburg returns to action Friday at Hamilton County in a 4:30 p.m. contest and will play at Olney Saturday, taking on Effingham at 12:30 p.m., followed by the host Tigers at 3 p.m.

Eldorado will play host to Galatia today (Thursday) at 4 p.m. and will play at Massac County at 10 a.m., followed by a 2 p.m. game at Goreville.

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