Tully and Hickerson Shine
May 29, 2011
Elkhart Central 3 Concord 0
Elkhart, IN ? The opening game of the Elkhart Memorial Sectional pitted two premier arms in the area. Sophomore Tanner Tully got the ball for Elkhart Central and Junior Seth Huxford for Concord. The lefty Tully would make it a night to remember by dominating the Concord offense with his fastball that sat between 83-88 mph all night. He would throw all seven innings allowing just two hits, walking one, and striking out 10.
Elkhart Central got on the board early and did not look back. Sophomore Austin McArt had a one out single in the first and was able to advance to second on a passed ball. Matt Eppers would come through with a two RBI single to get in the first run on the game.
McArt would score again in the third inning after he singled. Junior Jack Bernacchi followed the single with a double and Eppers would be intentionally walked to load the bases. Pat Smith would be hit by a pitch bringing McArt home for a 2-0 EC lead. Huxford would not allow anymore runs in the inning.
Tully put an exclamation point on the win in the top of the 7th with a solo homerun to left center field. On the mound Tully was hard to hit with very few hard hit balls and just the two hits (both to Senior Joseph Adams).
Huxford took the loss allowing just seven hits, two earned runs, and striking out eight.
Warsaw 6 Elkhart Memorial 1
Elkhart, IN ? The second game saw another great pitching performance, this time from Senior Joey Hickerson. Hickerson picked up the win for Warsaw by throwing all seven innings allowing just one run on six hits and striking out 10. Hickerson?s fastball sat between 83-86 mph all night with a filthy curveball that kept Elkhart Memorial struggling to pick up hits.
Warsaw jumped on the board in the second when Junior Mitchell Gosnell doubled scoring Junior Austin Moore, who had singled earlier in the inning. Senior Darin Lursen followed that up with a single scoring Junior Brady Ousley, who also had singled in the inning, giving Warsaw a 2-0 going into the bottom of two.
Elkhart answered with a run of their own when Senior Jordan Hinton singled and would later score on Senior Dustin Mills RBI double.
RBI singles from Ousley in the third and Senior Aaron Christenberry in the fourth would give Warsaw a 4-1 advantage.
Hickerson, like Tully did in game one, delivered the final blow. After a walk to Lursen Elkhart Memorial changed pitchers and Hickerson would drive the first pitch deep over the wall for a two run homerun
Warsaw and Elkhart Central will face off on Monday with the winner advancing to the Sectional final against the winner of Goshen and Northridge.