By Teresa Flores
Public Information Office
After dropping two games to Ranger College this past weekend, the Northeast Eagles baseball team returned home to face TCS Post Grad.
The Eagles dominated the game, clearing a six-run shortfall with a big 10-run inning. The team cushioned their lead and secured a 22-12 victory.
Brady Batten helped lead the team to their win. The player racked up 5 RBIs off of three hits, one of which was a three-run homer.
Things appeared a little rocky for the Eagles as they entered the bottom of the third down by six.
The team made a killing as errors and a strong offense at the plate helped round up 10 runs. Ryan Dudley got the hits going for the Eagles with a hard ground ball to left field. Darien Simms and Batten collected two hits each in the inning, with each scoring two. A double to left field on a pop fly by Justin Bundy brought in two runs. The Eagles’ bats overpowered Post Grad fielders in the big inning, allowing Northeast to take the lead for good.
In the fourth, the Eagles crossed home two more times before Batten widened their lead with a three-run homer.
Despite a lineup change in the fifth for Northeast, Post Grad was unable to recover. Both teams tacked on another six runs, but Post Grad couldn’t quite dig themselves out of the hole.
Head Baseball Coach Shane Wedd said the team’s performance against TCS Post Grad showcased their entire team’s best effort.
“I am really proud of our guys. All of our position players got in the game and contributed,” he said. “In the fifth inning, we changed the entire lineup and put guys in who haven’t played many games. They came out ready to go, and I thought they did a great job. Any time you score 22 runs, it’s a positive night.”
Although suffering two defeats in close games against Ranger College, the head coach said the win was a great way to bounce back into the game. “The guys were within two runs in both losses against Ranger,” Wedd said. “It was some tight games and the guys played hard but we just got to clean a couple of things up. It was a great way for them to come out and respond and leave with a big win.”
The Eagles will head into conference play next week when they travel to face Paris Junior College. Wedd said their most recent win against Post Grad was a good chance to ready players for conference.
“We got a couple of pitchers in that haven’t had an opportunity to pitch in a while,” he said. “So it was good to get them in and get some experience as we gear up for the conference next week.”
Northeast will travel to Little Rock, Ark. for a doubleheader versus Arkansas Baptist College on Feb. 23. The team will host Arkansas on Feb. 25 for an afternoon doubleheader.