Pleasant Grove got in an early hole and just couldn't quite dig itself
out.
Playing their third game in two days, the Hawks gave up three runs on five hits in the first inning to give New Diana momentum early on en route to a 10-6 loss on Saturday at Hawk
Field.
The Eagles got two hits from Cody Stanley and Jacob Burton in the first frame. Cade Medlin singled Stanley home and
the next batter Isaiah Martinez hit an RBI-single. With the bases juiced, Jackson Sampson slapped another single for a run before Pleasant Grove pitcher Matthew Gilley got out of the jam with his first strikeout.
"I thought New Diana came out and swung the bats extremely well today," Pleasant Grove coach Riley Fincher said. "Our pitchers filled the zone up
and they just did a great job swinging the bats. We are still leaving too many guys on base, and when you look at the scoreboard after the game, they have a lot of crooked numbers and that's the difference
today."
The Hawks would answer back in the bottom of the first with Carson Cox getting on base with a lead-off single, a Keaton Russo hit and Ben Harmon driving the two in with single. Russo advanced to second in that series on
a balk.
Gilley started to settle down in the second despite giving up a
lead-off single as he forced a pop fly and struck out his second batter after New Diana's Cooper Holland was caught
stealing.
Cox finished with two doubles and teammates Harmon and Seth Hopkins each singled
twice.
The loss only marks the third on the season and comes after playing a doubleheader on Friday night against Spring
Hill.
"You don't want to make excuses," Fincher said. That's playoff series baseball when you play that many games in two days. We haven't even gotten to district play yet, but the expectations here are high. Not just here with the coaching staff or the community, our players expect to play baseball for a long time. We put ourselves in these situations to prepare, and playing that many games so quick puts us in the right mindset for when postseason
comes.
New Diana would score two more runs in the fourth and four in the sixth to seal the win.
Pleasant Grove would threaten the Eagles in the fourth as well, with Andrew LeGrand leading off with a single and Cox bringing him home on a double, but couldn't manage to do more damage despite Jackson Cobb's walk to put two on base with no
outs.
Designated hitter Brandon Hlavinka drilled a solo home run to kick off the fifth inning but, again, New Diana shut that down with three straight outs afterward.
The speedy Tyler Kelley scored the Hawks' last run in the seventh
when he slapped a first-pitch double into the the gap in left field and reached third on a balk. Gilley would bring him in on a
grounder.
"As good as we played last night, we came out today ho-hum average, but we have great kids," Fincher said. "The great thing about this game is we get to come back out Monday evening and play again. That's baseball"
Pleasant Grove (9-3) will host Ashdown on Monday, with first pitch slated for 6 p.m.
New Diana 301 204 - 10 12 0
Pleasant Grove 200 111 - 6 9 0
Cole Wileford, Austin Green (4) and Cooper Holland. Matthew Gilley, Braden Watkins (4), Marshall Oubre (4), Ryan Galvan (6), Braden Hlavinka (7) and Keaton Russo. WP-Green. LP-Gilley. HR: PG-Hlavinka (5th, none on).