Rich has three-hit day as Heritage defeats Trinity on Senior Day in key region game



Teammates congratulate Candler Rich after hitting a home run in the bottom of the fourth inning of the Heritage Hawks 15-0 victory over the Trinity Christian Lions.

 

 Heritage 15 Trinity Christian 0 (Four Innings)

It was threes for Candler Rich Tuesday afternoon as he was 3-for-3 at the plate, scored three times and had three RBIs while Tyler Nix and Luke Crook each had two hits to lead the Heritage Hawks to a 15-0 GISA Region 1AAA victory over the Trinity Christian Lions.
The four-inning win at home improves the Hawks' overall record to 14-2 and 5-2 in the region with a home game Friday against Dominion Christian to solidify the second seed for the upcoming state playoffs.
Loganville Christian won the region's top seed Tuesday after defeating Dominion Christian 3-2.
It was also Senior Day as Rich, Nix, Crook, Patrick McKee, Sam Pulsipher and Joe Bonner were honored prior to the game.  
Heritage scored early as they came away with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning as Rich led off with a double, Brad Macke followed with a walk and Rich stole third before Nix reached on a walk that loaded the bases.
A sacrifice fly to center field by Crook allowed Rich to score while both Macke and Nix advanced into scoring position on the throw home for Bonner who hit a ground ball to short that scored Macke from third.
Heritage added to the lead with one out in the bottom of the second inning as Pulsipher reached base on an inifield error aned Matthew Burns stole second for Rich who recorded his second straight double with a shot to left center field that was good for an RBI.
After advancing to third on a groundout, Rich came home on an infield single by Nix who subsequently stole second and came home on a line drive single to center field by Crook and the Hawks enjoyed a 5-0 lead.

Tyler Nix (left) and Candler Rich (right) were among siox seniors honored prior to the Heritage Hawks game against the Trinity Christian Lions.

Benefitting from the lead was starting pitcher Luke Smith who retired the first five men he face while the sixth batter was retired on a scorebook error.
Smith was replaced by Nix who retired the first batter on strikes and walked the next batter before getting a flyball to Rich who caught the baserunner too far off the bag for the double play.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Hawks added to their lead when Tyler Henson reached on a one out walk and Mack Wilkins followed with a double for Pulsipher who hit a bloop single to right center field allowing Henson to score while pinch runner Hayden Stanley advanced to third.
After a walk to Rich, Macke hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Stanley, then a throwing error allowed courtesy runner Burns to come home.
The scoring in the frame came to an end as Nix hit a single to left and Rich was able to walk home for the run.
Nix pitched in the top of the fourth inning and retired the first two batters before getting into a minor jam with a pair of walks before ending the frame with a forceplay.
The Hawks were able to end the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as 11 batters went to the plate and six came home.
With one out, McKee and Henson had consecutive doubles for one run then Wilkins followed with an RBI single.
After a flyball to center for the second out of the inning, Rich lined a 1-0 offering over the left field fence for a two-run home run then Macke followed with a solo shot to right field and the lead was 14-0.
Nix reached first after being hit by a pitch then Crook had a single before Bonner was hit by a pitch and McKee reached on a walk to end the game on the 15-run mercy rule.