A losing streak came for the Eupora Eagles baseball team the last couple of weeks but the team rebounded for a big win last Thursday and is hoping for a big week this week as Class 2A, Region 4 play heats back up.
After dropping an 11-1 ball game to a tough 4A team in Amory, Eupora hosted Ethel last Thursday. The Tigers have been a consistent squad on the diamond over the years and presented another tough challenge to Ben Aldridge’s team but it was Eupora that would find a way in this pitcher’s duel with a 2-1 victory to get back on track.
A sparkling start from Jude Hawkins kept the team steady for a breakthrough late in the game and they were able to hold off a late opportunity by the Tigers to get the victory.
“We talked about the Bruce game this year and the walks that we had and we really harped on that with our pitchers,” Aldridge said. “Cullen Harris and Jude have done really well for us on the mound. Jude had a no-hitter on Thursday going into the 7th and Cullen has been pitching really well also. Jude struggled at times with walks but he has just put his nose down and gone to work. You can see his confidence coming back.”
In a game where hits were hard to come by, the Eagles finally came through in the sixth. A two-run frame got the lead for Hawkins before he was lifted in favor of Landry Winter with an out in the frame. Leading 2-1, Winter left that tying run on base and got the final two outs with one of those being a strikeout.
The Eagles’ defense was on point as well. Ty Murphy was able to end the game by gunning down the tying run at the plate to get the win in the seventh.
“That was big, especially with the way it ended,” Aldridge said. “They just kept fighting. After that game, on Saturday we had a rain out but our guys showed up to the field to hit. We hit a little bit of a streak where we were losing, but we’re going out to compete every game.”
Hawkins pitched the game of the year for a Eupora pitcher. He nearly went the distance as he threw 6.1 innings, gave up just one hit in the game with one run, one walk and he had an 11-strikeout performance.
The Eagles had just four hits as a team, but Chris Robinson delivered a big one as he drove in a run in the sixth. Ethel had four errors in the game but only walked one batter.
At 7-8, the Eagles now focus on a huge week in district play. The team won the first two district contests and hold their own destiny now at the top of the division if they can win out. That is a tough task with the schedule ahead, of course, and it started on Tuesday on the road at Nanih Waiya. Eupora will have a chance to host the Warriors on Friday night at 4 p.m. before bringing in Union for a Saturday afternoon first pitch at 2 p.m.
“(Nanih Waiya is) a good team. They pitch it well and are going to play defense. They’ll do what they have to do to make things happen. The biggest thing is to go out there and compete and string together some good at bats to give ourselves a chance.”
