PEARCY -- Lake Hamilton started off strong and finished that way as the Wolves routed the visiting J.A. Fair War Eagles, 19-0, on Tuesday.
The Wolves (3-4, 1-1 5A South) scored 17 runs in the first inning, with a wild pitch by Fair's pitcher allowing Lake Hamilton junior Cameron Hartness to score. Hartness pinch ran for classmate Garrett Lynch, who led the inning off with a walk.
A few hitters down the line, sophomore Ryan Fields doubled to left field that scored junior Braden Qualls and sophomore Carson Harris to mark the score, 3-0. After back-to-back wild pitches thrown by the War Eagles (0-2, 0-2), sophomore Weston Dobyns and Fields scored for the Wolves to stretch their lead over Fair, 5-0.
"I thought we took care of business. It was a full team effort and everybody played," said Lake Hamilton head coach Mac Hurley. "Everybody got at least a couple at bats. I was proud of the way we ran the bases and hit the ball. We had 12 hits, and we spread it out throughout the lineup.
"We needed one of those kind of games. Of course we're looking forward to a tougher match tomorrow (Wednesday) against North Little Rock, but Fair's down, and those kids kept fighting hard anyway. We just did what we had to do to win the game and move forward."
Lynch reached on an infield single that scored sophomore J.T. Bardwell giving Lake Hamilton their first two-out run. Dobyns singled to left scoring Qualls and junior Conner Cheek to push the Wolves ahead even further, and moments later, Dobyns capitalized on classmate Cooper Pearson's infield single to bring it 11-0.
Following another score by Fields on a wild pitch, Hartness doubled to center to plate senior Dakota Hawkins and classmate Jace Robbins, solidifying Lake Hamilton's lead, 14-0. Three hitters later, Cheek singled to send Hartness home as the Wolves continued to overwhem Fair.
In the bottom of the second inning, Pearson scored on a single to left field by Hawkins to capture an 18-0 spread. The Wolves' pitching staff came to play, allowing zero hits and striking out eight of the nine batters they faced.
"Fields hit the ball really well, he was 2-for-3 and Pearson was 2-for-2. We had a lot of kids with one hit along with an on-base percentage that was pretty high," said Hurley. "Pitching-wise, Lynch pitched the first inning. I think he threw nine pitches and struck out three, so he came in and did his job. Hawkins finished up the last few innings and ended up striking out five.
"We did what we needed to, and I'm proud of the guys and the class that they showed in the dugout and everything. We're coming together as a team, and I'm proud of them."
Lynch started on the mound for the Wolves, striking out all three batters with nine straight strikes. Hawkins relieved Lynch in the second inning, finishing out the game. The senior struck out five without a hit or walk.
Bardwell, Qualls and Hartness stole two bases each while Cheek and Harris had one apiece. The Wolves tallied 12 hits with Fields and Pearson picking up two each.
Cheek, Dobyns, Fields and Hartness each collected two RBI for the Wolves. Hartness scored three runs, and Qualls, Dobyns, Fields and Robbins crossed the plate two times each.
The Wolves' junior varsity squad will host Glen Rose today, and both the varsity and JV teams will travel to Hot Springs on Friday for a 4:30 p.m. matchup against the Trojans.
Sports on 03/28/2019