Ozone Rookies kick off tournament with a bang
Published 3:00 am Friday, June 16, 2017
- Messenger Photo/Jonah Enfinger Troy’s starting pitcher Jackson Cleveland threw 5.2 innings and allowed just two runs while striking out five batters. Troy defeated rival Enterprise 14-2.
The Troy Ozone Rookies opened their district tournament with a dominating 14-2 win over Enterprise on Thursday afternoon at the Troy Sportsplex.
Jackson Cleveland got the start for Troy. He threw 4.2 innings and allowed two runs, while striking out five batters.
“He pitched as good as has he has pitched in a while,” said head coach John Prestwood. “He hit his spots and he kept the ball low.”
Troy finished with 13 hits led by Damien Hart with three. Houston Gunter and Cleveland each had two.
“We were being patient,” Prestwood said. “We have been watching a lot of strikes. They were aggressive tonight and we hit the ball hard.”
Troy sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and scored five runs. Davis Kilcrease doubled to score both Braden Prestwood and Houston Gunter. Cleveland got the big hit of the inning with a three-run homerun to center field.
Enterprise came back with two runs on one hit, two walks, a hit batter and an error.
Troy added two more runs in the second. Myles Tyler singled and came around to score on a wild pitch and Bradley Prestwood scored on an error to bring the score to 7-2.
Troy pushed the lead to 9-2 after Gunter scored on a Cleveland single and Cleveland scored on an error by the shortstop.
Troy scored for the fourth straight inning when Malachi Cooper came into score on balk by the Enterprise pitcher.
Troy scored their last four runs in the sixth inning. Troy sent eight batters to the plate. Slade Renfroe came around to score on a triple by Peyton Stamey. Stamey came around to score the second run of the inning on a single by Cody Cantlow. Cantlow came around to score on an error and Tyler scored the final run on a groundout.
Due to the rain on Thursday night evening, Troy’s second round game against Luverne will begin at 4 p.m.