Senior Chase Hartley’s three-run homer and effort on the mound helped propel the Charles Henderson Trojans to a 5-3 win over Prattville in the opening day of the Terry Sikes Memorial Tournament.

“Being able to pull out a game like that is really big for us as far as keeping our edge and our momentum,” said head coach William Teal.

The win didn’t come easy, as the Trojans committed four errors.

“You’re not going to play your best everyday,” Teal said. “We gave them pretty much everything they had. Being able to strap it down and buckle down and make the plays we needed to is nice to see.”

Hartley held the Lion hitters to just one hit on the night, with only one earned run. He struck out seven batters during his seven innings.

Hartley’s complete game effort gives Teal the flexibility to use his other pitchers during the weekend.

“His pitch count got up there and I didn’t want him to throw that many pitches,” Teal said. “I asked how he felt and he said ‘I’m finishing it.’ It was big that he was able to finish the game because it saved our pitching.”

The Trojans got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, when leadoff hitter Nick Lewis doubled. He advanced to third before scoring on a wild pitch.

The Lions tied the game in the top half of the third inning when Hartley threw two consecutive wild pitches.

It was all Hartley in the bottom of the third. With Bryson Gandy and Lewis on base, Hartley hit a blast over the leftfield fence to increase the Trojans lead to 4-1.

“That was huge,” Teal said. “When I played, you harped on ‘answer’ and ‘shutdown innings.’ They tied it up and we answered it with three. That ended up being the difference in the game.”

The Lions closed the gap in the top of the fourth after two walks and two errors. The Trojans answered back as Lewis drove in Charlie Tisdale with a base hit.

Hartley was able to calm down and get big outs in the later innings to seal the deal for the Trojans.

The Trojans will play day two of the tournament when they take on Hewitt-Trustville at 7:30 p.m. at Riddle-Pace Field at Troy University.