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Crosstown rivals Gardner Newman and Long Cane baseball teams met on the diamond Monday for a doubleheader. The two teams would split the game with the Cougars taking game one and the Mustangs winning game two. 

 

GAME ONE:

LONG CANE – 7

GARDNER NEWMAN – 3

 

The Cougars jumped on the Mustangs early in game one. Ayden Hunt for the scoring started with a two-run single in the bottom of the second.

Long Cane would make it 5-0 with three additional runs in the third inning. 

Peyton Spears hit a single to drive home the first run. Hunt’s big game continued with a two-run single. 

The Cougars would tack on two more runs in the fourth inning courtesy of a passed ball and a Spears RBI groundout.

The Mustangs eventually got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ben Sells hit a one-run single and Grady Smallwood hit a single to bring home two more runs for Gardner Newman. 

Hunt led the Cougars with two hits and four RBIs. Spears, Sammir Pope,Lawson Williams, Ezra Cook, Cayden Spivey, Hudson Malone and Jack

Riley all had a hit apiece.

Spears pitched all five innings for Long Cane, allowing just two hits and one earned run on seven strikeouts. 

Smallwood, Sells, Karson Karvelas and Reif Halloway all had a hit apiece for the Mustangs. 

Colton Shelnutt got the start on the mound and pitched four innings before making way for Jacob Kemper 

 

GAME TWO:

LONG CANE – 5

GARDNER NEWMAN – 17

 

It was the Mustangs that got off to a hot start in game two, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Shelnutt hit a single to drive in the first run and break the deadlock. Spivey would proceed to bring the next two runs home with a single of his own. An error would allow the fourth and final run of the inning to score. 

The Cougars would get a run back in the top of the second inning courtesy of Luke Webb stealing home. 

It would do little to dent Gardner Newman’s momentum as the Mustangs put nine runs on the board in the second inning. Bentley Henderson hit a one-run single to start the action. A passed ball would allow another base runner to reach home and make it 6-1. Shelnutt hit an inside-the-park home run to push the Mustang lead out to nine runs. Spivey would drive home a run with a double followed by Woods Griffin hitting an RBI single. An error would allow the final run of the inning to score.

Despite the lopsided score, Long Cane did not roll over. The Cougars would get four runs back in the top of the third inning. A wild pitch would allow the first run of the inning to score before Jaxson Wallace would bring the second home with a single. Chipper Yeatman would score on a wild pitch to cut the Mustang lead to 13-4. Greyson Lions was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the fourth and final run of the inning for Long Cane.

The Mustangs would get those four runs right back in the bottom of the third to ice the game.

Gardner Newman was led by Shelnutt, who had three hits and five RBIs. Spivey and Henderson had two hits while Woods, Tristan Johnson and Griffin Karr had one apiece. 

Offense was hard to come by for the Cougars with Wallace registering the only hit in the game for the team.