By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

A late start didn’t bother the Callaway Cavaliers.

Callaway was scheduled to play two home games against Jordan on Thursday, and the first game was supposed to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Because of the late arrival by the umpires, though, the first game started an hour late.

When the game finally commenced, the Cavaliers started quickly with eight runs in the first inning, and they rolled to a 12-2 victory in a game shortened to five innings because of the run rule.

The second game, which was played with a steady rain coming down, went the full seven innings, and Callaway came away with an 8-1 win.

Callaway improved to 9-3 in Region 5-AA, and it completes region play with three games against Heard County next week.

If Callaway wins one of the three games against Heard County, it will likely finish second in the region and will host a first-round series in the state playoffs.

Bremen is 11-1 in the region, and it will win the region championship if it wins at least one of three games against Temple next week.

Temple is in last place in the region with an 0-12 record.

Here’s a recap of Thursday’s games:

GAME ONE

Callaway 12, Jordan 2

Dawson Wright only needed 47 pitches to throw a five-inning complete game.

Wright held Jordan to one hit while striking out five, and both of the runs he allowed were unearned.

Luke Swann helped lead the offensive effort with two hits and two RBIs, and he hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. It was the first varsity home run for Swann, Callaway’s catcher.

Drake Wade, who sparks the offense from his leadoff position, had two hits and two RBIs, and he scored three runs.

Wesley Marchman had two hits and an RBI, Bryce Kurian had a hit and two RBIs, Trent Sheppard and Destin Patrick each had a double and an RBI, and Walt Stewart had a hit.

The Cavaliers finished with 11 hits, and they walked four times.

After scoring eight runs in the first inning, the Cavaliers scored single runs in the second and third innings, and two runs in the fourth.

GAME TWO

Callaway 8, Jordan 1

Jabari Smith started and pitched five superb innings to help the Cavaliers finish off the sweep.

Smith limited Jordan to three hits and an unearned run, and he had three strikeouts.

Austin Barber and Tucker Starling each threw a scoreless inning to finish things off.

Swann, after hitting a home run in the first game, had two more hits with a pair of RBIs in the second game.

Austin Cardwell had a hit and two RBIs, Braelin Mitchell and Destin Patrick each had a hit and an RBI, Wesley Marchman drove in a run, and Bryce Kurian had a hit.

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