By Devin Smith

After completing a two-game sweep of Elba and Dothan to begin their defense of the 4A State Championship the Charles Henderson Trojans returned to Troy to sweep the Slocomb Redtops on Thursday by a combined score of 29-3.

In the first game of the series the Redtops (2-3) battled with the Trojans (4-0) for the opening two innings, but after Slocomb tied the game 3-3 in the top of the second Charles Henderson erupted with back-to-back innings with eight runs in the bottom of the second and third to take the game 19-3 in four innings.

In the second inning Austin Ingram opened up the floodgates with a monstrous three-run home run, only to be matched by a nearly identical three-run homer from teammate Nick Lewis.

Hunter Baggett hit the third three-run homer of the day for Charles Henderson early in the third, solidifying the rout.

Xavius Burden set the tone on the mound for the Trojans in his four innings with two scoreless innings and seven strikeouts.

After a brief intermission the two schools competed again in a much closer contest that lasted six innings with Charles Henderson taking the victory by a score of 10-0.

The Trojans had some assistance carrying the momentum from the first game over to the second with Redtop pitchers walking six of the first eight batters for Charles Henderson.

The Trojans would be held scoreless over the next two innings before facilitating a couple hits in the fourth and fifth innings, while pitcher Jason Fleming pitched the seven-inning shutout while striking out five batters.

Trojans head baseball coach Derek Irons left the double-header feeling positive about the way his team performed in its first home outing of the season.

“Well we swung the bat well,” Irons said. “It’s always good to produce runs like that, and we had solid starts from Xavius (Burden) and Jason (Fleming) in their first appearances this season.”

Irons also liked the energy he was getting from his team after he felt like they came out a little flat to open the season.

“I felt like we didn’t have the right energy on Monday,” Irons said. “But that’s why you make adjustments, and I think they came out tonight with a lot more energy.”

The undefeated Trojans now turn their attention to a double-header against Marbury and Stanhope Elmore in Millbrook on Saturday, first pitch is set for 1 p.m.