Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

A six-run second inning helped propel the Callaway Cavaliers to a 9-1 victory over Brookstone on a chilly Thursday evening.

After a practice session devoted to hitting, the Cavaliers came out a day later and got the job done offensively to improve to 2-4.

“The field was wet (Tuesday), but we got on it, and we worked for an hour and a half on just two-strike hitting, and situational hitting,” said Callaway head coach Dusty Hubbard. “Today, we did some good things bunting, and just having productive outs.”

While the Cavaliers had plenty of RBI hits during the game, Hubbard pointed to an at-bat by Andrew Locke in the decisive second inning that helped get things going.

“The at-bat of the game was Andrew Locke, when he had two strikes on him, and he just taps it out in front of the mound, puts it in play with two strikes, and they throw it away,” Hubbard said. “For him, he’s been striking out a lot, and we’ve been working on two-strike hitting with him, and it was good for him.”

That put runners on second and third, and Tucker Starling followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead.

By the time the inning ended the Cavaliers had a 7-0 lead, and they added two more runs in the fifth inning.

Pitchers Jabari Smith, Dawson Wright and Starling combined to shut down Brookstone’s offense.

“(The win) gives us momentum, and you’re starting to do the things you practiced,” Hubbard said.

The Cavaliers struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning.

Wesley Marchman reached on a single and later scored on a Luke Swann double.

Callaway broke it open with the big second inning.

After Starling’s sacrifice fly, CJ Stephens followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 3-0.

Marchman kept it going with a base hit and Swann walked, and Smith hammered the ball up the middle for a two-run single, and Callaway’s lead was 5-0.

Two batters later, Zach Neighbors fought off a two-strike pitch and drove the ball into the outfield for a two-run hit, and the Cavaliers were up 7-0.

After Kaden Rogers walked, Locke kept it going with a base hit, but Neighbors was called out on the throw to the plate to end the inning.

The Cavaliers pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 9-1.

Rogers legged out an infield single leading off, and after Locke reached on an error, Starling’s sacrifice bunt put men on second and third.

One run scored when Stephens reached on an error, and Locke later stole home on a double steal to give Callaway its ninth and final run.

Smith started on the mound for Callaway and pitched into the third inning before leaving with an injury.

Wright entered the game and pitched 3 2/3 effective innings, and Starling got the final four outs without giving up a run.

Callaway visits Westminster on Saturday at noon.