Titans clip Blackhawks

By: From Staff Reports | McDowell News
Published: April 25, 2010

The old axiom about good pitching beating good hitting is true most of the time. Except in the Mountain Athletic 4A/3A Conference, that is.
Most of the games in the MAC lately have been slugfests similar to the McDowell Titans' 10-8 win over the North Buncombe Blackhawks Thursday on the road.
The Titans (9-11 overall, 5-4 MAC) hammered out 13 hits in avenging an earlier extra-inning loss to North Buncombe (4-6, 11-9). McDowell got home runs from Eli Miller and Brent Rowe, and Tyler Hopkins went 5-for-5 at the plate.
The win moved the Titans to within a half-game of A.C. Reynolds (6-4) and a game of T.C. Roberson (6-3) in the race for the league's 4A championship. First-place Enka (8-2) has already secured the 3A crown.
McDowell used a five-run third inning to take command against North Buncombe, and built a 10-3 lead before holding off a late rally by the Blackhawks, who scored five in the bottom of the sixth.
Ethan Freeman (1-for-3, 2B) led off the third with a double, and Miller (2-for-4, HR, 2RBIs) followed with a two-run blast to center, his fifth homer of the year. Justin O'Dear (1-for-5) and Hopkins (2B, RBI) had back-to-back singles.
An error off the bat of Rowe (2-for-4, 3R, 2RBIs, HR) plated a run, and Dalton Scoles (1-for-3, 2RBIs) delivered a two-run basehit to left that made it 5-0.
Miller walked and eventually scored on Hopkins' RBI single to stretch the lead to 6-0 in the fourth.
North Buncombe closed to within 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth.
But Rowe led off the fifth with a solo shot to center, his second home run in the last two games.
The Titans added three more in the sixth, and they turned out to be huge.
Miller led off with a single, but was erased on O'Dear's fielder's choice. Hopkins doubled, and Tre' Young drove in a run with a groundout to make it 8-3. Rowe and Dakota Arrowood (1-for-3, RBI) each came through with two-out, RBI singles later in the inning to make it 10-3.
The Blackhawks scored five in the sixth off Titans reliever Hopkins, but Hopkins sat them down in order in the seventh to end the game.
O'Dear pitched the first 3 2/3 innings for the win. He allowed three runs, two of them earned, on two hits. O'Dear walked eight and struck out seven.
Hopkins allowed five runs, four of them earned, on five hits in 3 1/3 innings of work. He walked two and struck out two.
McDowell is at Erwin Tuesday (4 p.m. start-jayvees, 6 p.m. start-varsity). The Titans step outside the conference for the final time Wednesday when they host Chase (4:30, 6:30). McDowell is at home again Friday against Asheville (4:30, 6:30).

Titans clip Blackhawks

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