The Noxapater Tigers took advantage of 17 walks and 12 hits to take a 23-8 win over Louisville on Saturday, with 16 of those runs coming in the sixth inning.
Earlier in the week, the Tigers dropped a 14-4 decision to Choctaw Central. This week Noxapater was set to visit J.Z. George on Tuesday and Philadelphia on Thursday before hosting JZG on Friday.
Lane Bailey had two hits, four RBIs and four runs scored to lead the winners in the game against LHS, while Landon Bailey banged out a double and a single and scored three runs.
Luke Welborn had two hits, two RBIs and four runs scored for the winners, while Chevy Welborn had two hits and four RBIs.
Caleb Ellinburg added to the offensive attack with two hits, two runs scored and three RBIs, while Ethan Jones and Kyle Phillips had one hit each.
Luke Welborn and Taylor Buchanan each walked four times for the Tigers, while Connor Thrash scored three runs.
Luke Welborn went the distance on the mound for the Tigers, allowing seven hits and recording four strikeouts in six innings of work.
The game with Choctaw Central saw the Warriors score at least two runs in each of the five innings played.
Noxapater had seven hits in the game with Buchanan, Chevy Welborn, and Lane Bailey picking up two each and Luke Welborn having one. RBIs belonged to Buchanan, Luke Welborn, Landon Bailey and Ethan Jones.
Buchanan struck out four batters in 3.2 innings for the Tigers, allowing just three earned runs.
Head coach Zach Kemp is optimistic about the season overall, but noted that improvement had to be made defensively.
“We need to clean up some defensive stuff,” he said. “Basically we need to know what we are going to do before the ball is hit to us, just being better prepared. I do think our hitting is ahead of where we were last year. That’s very encouraging.”
He said his five seniors —Chevy Welborn, Buchanan, Lane and Landon Bailey, and Clay Kugle would be looked at to lead the team.
“We have a lot of experience on the infield and behind the plate and that should really help us,” Kemp said.
