Indians erase 5-0 deficit to defeat Hawks in 'team effort'

SHARPSBURG-The East Coweta Indians erased a 5-0 deficit Friday night and remained undefeated with a team effort in the opinion of head coach Franklin Deloach to escape with a 10-6 come-from-behind non-region win at home over the Hillgrove Hawks.
“It was a great team effort,” he said. “We were down 5-0 and challenged the guys into achieving process over result and it paid off.”
The result was favorable early for Indians starter Austin Bellamy as he retired the side in order in the top of the first inning but he would have trouble in the top of the second inning as the Hawks scored four runs on three singles, a walk and a triple by Hawks starting pitcher Mitchell Mannio to take a 4-0 lead before retiring the final three batters in the frame.
Bellamy retired the first two batters of the top of the third inning but he would surrender a single to Brian Johnson who stole second and score on a single by Justin Haney.
After three innings, Bellamy would turn the game over in the top of the fourth inning to Bryce Gemmel who gave the Indians two and one-third solid innings during his stint.
“Bellamy struggled tonight but he battled through it,” Deloach said of his starter. “He made adjustments and then we turned it over to Gemmel who would do a great job for us.”
The Indians still faced a 5-0 deficit and the results of the first three innings were a single by Tim Manning and a pair of walks, but the Indians rallied in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game at 5-5.
Cole Antmann reached on a ball misplayed by the shortstop while Jonathan Banks and Geremy Walton followed with singles that loaded the bases and Matthew Meyer followed with a result as a two-run single put the Indians on the scoreboard.
Austin Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases again and with Travis Williams at the plate, Walton came home when a balk was called against Manning.
Williams reached on an error by the Hawks shortstop that allowed Meyer to score and courtesy runner Justin Lewis crossed the plate with the tying run on an error by the Hawks’ catcher.
The Indians took the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning as Banks lined a solo home run over the left field fence then Walton followed with a single, a stolen base and a run when Jones hit into a force play.
The Hawks (6-6) cut the margin to 7-6 in the top of the sixth inning as Johnson reached on a leadoff single, stole second and after Gemmel recorded a strikeout and hit a batter before surrendering an RBI single to Nick Andrews and being subsequently replaced on the mound by Meyer.
Meyer would get the Indians out of trouble as he retired Jacob Farmer on strikes and ended the inning when he forced Tyler Weyenberg out of the baseline on the way to first base.
The Indians got the run back in the bottom of the sixth inning a couple more after the first two batters of the frame were retired as Gemmel reached on a walk and advanced to third when the outfielder overran a single by Antmann.
Gemmel and Antmann scored on a double to left by Banks and after a wild pitch moved him to third, Walton followed with an RBI single to close the scoring.
For the evening, Banks and Walton each were 3-for-4 at the plate and combined to score five runs and drive home the same amount.
Antmann took over for Meyer on the mound in the top of the seventh inning and got off to a slow start as he walked a batter while another reached on an infield error before he retired the next two batters on strikes before getting a flyball to right to end the game.
Next for the Indians will be their original foray into Region 3-AAAAAA games as they will host the Langston Hughes Panthers Tuesday at 5:30 to start a three game series during the week. The Panthers come into the first game with a 7-4 record.