Warriors dash from hardwood to diamond...still winning

Luke Hill wasted no time in letting his teammates know he was ready for baseball season to arrive.

One of the few Okarche baseball mainstays who didn’t also play basketball started the spring season with a leadoff homer Tuesday as the Warriors got a 7-5 win at Drummond.

The victory came just three days after Okarche won its third straight Class A basketball title.

The Warriors are also coming off a fall season in which they claimed the Class A championship, the first in the program’s history.

After Hill, the next four batters in Okarche’s lineup did start on the Warrior basketball team.

Those four were responsible for half of Okarche’s 10 hits in the game. They helped the Warriors stake a lead of 5-0 entering the bottom of the fourth and was 7-2 after five full innings.

One of them was Jett Mueggenborg, whose RBI single in the third brought home Hill to make it 2-0.

Another, Brett Carnott, walked prior to Mueggenborg’s hit and scored on Jake Henderson’s bases- loaded walk in the same inning.

Yet another, Easton Roby, got his second hit of the game in the fourth when he sent a two-out offering over the right field wall for a 4-0 Warrior lead.

And yet another, Colin Hendrickson, made it 5-0 when his double in the same inning scored Carnott.

Freshman Cy Collamore added an RBI single and later scored on a passed ball for a 7-1 lead.

The Bulldogs took advantage of a couple hits and wild pitch to make it 7-2 in the fifth.

It finally got interesting in the seventh.

A pair of one-out errors and a fielder’s choice pulled Drummond within 7-3.

Hill made way for Roby on the mound and the latter walked the first two batters he faced. A passed ball during one of those atbats made it a 7-4 ballgame.

With the bases loaded, Roby got a second out via strikeout, but walked another batter to trim the lead to 7-5.

However, Roby got out of the jam with a strikeout to preserve the win.

Collamore got the start and the win with his 3 2/3 innings.

He gave up four hits, an earned run and struck out 6 batters.

Hill threw 2 2/3 innings and allowed three hits. One of the 3 runs he gave up was earned and he also struck out 3.

Roby threw the final 2/3 inning and struck out 2.

Roby was also 2 for 3 at the plate with an RBI and a run.

Jake Henderson was the only other Warrior to collect two hits as he also had an RBI.

The Warriors followed that up Thursday with a 17-0 win over visiting Binger- Oney. The game lasted just three innings.

Collamore and Henderson both hit home runs while Carnott and Mueggenborg joined Collamore in collecting 2 hits apiece.

Carnott drove in 3 runs and scored twice.

Grady Terrell pitched all three frames for the win. He gave up 1 hit and struck out 5.

Okarche downed Hydro-Eakly 8-0 in a five-inning run rule at home Friday.

Hill pitched 4 innings of one-hit ball and struck out 8 for the win.

Cody Endres collected the final three outs and didn’t surrender a hit.

Hill and Lane Rother both had 2 hits and scored twice.

Kroener drove in 2 runs in the game.

Okarche is in Alabama this week taking part in the Gulf Shores Classic.

Opponents will include Sipsey Valley (Buhl, Ala.), Alabama Christian Academy, Norman North and Trinity Presbyterian (Montgomery, Ala.).