By RODNEY YOUNG
NRVSports.net
It was a sunny and windy late afternoon Friday in Riner as the Auburn Eagles hosted the Fort Chiswell Pioneers.
Auburn would score three runs in the first and three in the second, and held on to defeat the Pioneers 8-5.
Fort Chiswell (15-3) scored in the first as Owen Jackson singled and moved to second on a passed ball. He would score on an Isaac Haislip single.
Auburn (14-4) answered the Pioneers in their first at-bat as Canyon Calhoun reached on an error, putting him at second base. Brody Hensel doubled, scoring him. Colin Roark would double Hensel in, and another error put him on third base. He would score on a groundout, putting the Eagles up 3-1.
The second inning saw Hensel triple, knocking in two runs, and Matthew Altizer’s single scored Hensel, making it 6-1 Auburn after two innings.
Fort Chiswell would cross the plate three times to make it 6-4 at the top of the third as Spencer Moser’s double would knock in three runs.
Auburn would score a single run in the fifth and sixth innings.
Brody Hensel was three for four, scored three runs, and knocked in three. Matthew Altizer and Roark also had three hits apiece, and Altizer had two RBI. Roark and Alex Young had an RBi.
Altizer was the starting and winning pitcher. He struck out 13 batters, allowing five runs on nine hits as he pitched 5.1 innings.
Fort Chiswell’s Spencer Moser had three RBI, and Haislip had two. Owen Jackson had three hits and Haislip two. Haislip was the starting and losing pitcher. He pitched 4.0 innings. He surrendered six runs, five hits. Just four of the runs were earned.
Auburn head coach Eric Altizer said, “Matthew (Altizer) battled on the mound, and Brody (Hensel) makes a big difference for us. They are all heart, and we have improved from earlier in the season. Fort Chiswell is good.”
Derrick Jackson, head coach of Fort Chiswell, remarked, “We struck out 16 times today. It’s tough to beat someone with that many strikeouts. We didn’t adjust at the plate. We made a couple of errors there early and got down. Auburn is a good team.”
Auburn is now 10-2 in the Mountain Empire District, and so is Grayson County. If the Pioneers win Tuesday versus Galax, there will be a three-way tie for first place at the end of district play.
The understanding is that if it is a three-way tie, Auburn would play Grayson Co. on Wednesday, May 13, at Bland Co. Sports Complex. The winner of that game would then play Fort Chiswell on Thursday, May 14, at Bland Co. Complex, and the winner would be the regular-season Mountain Empire District Champion.
Fort Chiswell- 1 0 3 0 0 1 0- 5 runs- 10 hits- 2 errors- 9 LOB
Auburn – 3 3 0 0 1 1 x – 8 runs – 11 hits – 0 errors – 6 LOB
Fort Chiswell- LP – Haislip
Auburn – WP – Altizer
