Indians JV hold off Vikings rally in the seventh

The East Coweta Indians scored all of their runs in the first two innings Tuesday night and had to survive a close seventh inning to come away with a 4-3 win over the Northgate Vikings in a junior varsity baseball game played in Sharpsburg.

The win was the fourth straight for the Indians who improved to 8-5 on the season and will host the Starr’s Mill Panthers in a doubleheader Wednesday at 4:30.

Myles Dowell gave the Indians the lead in the bottom of the first inning when he reached on a single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout before coming home on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Indians were able to take advantage of two walks and two hit by pitches to score three runs and take a 4-0 lead.

Dowell, Peyton Ramey and Ethan Walker were responsible for the RBIs in the frame for the Indians.

The Indians were shut out the remainder of the game as Eric Henderson came into the game in the bottom of the second inning and scattered baserunners before getting the pitch he needed to end frames.

Henderson was relieved by Hunter Putnam in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Indians had a chance to add to the run total as Bryan Crow doubled and Daniel Smith walked before the next three batters went down on strikeouts.

Benefiting from the 4-0 lead was Crow who pitched the first five innings of the game with only one hit through the first four innings.

The Vikings scored a run off of Crow in the top of the fifth inning as Wyatt Huckaby reached on a one out single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Robert Smith.

Two more batters reached on singles but a rundown and a flyball to left field ended the frame.

Ramey took over in the sixth inning for Crow and retired the side in order but found the seventh to be a challenge.

Putnam led off the frame with a single but was erased on a force play at second and Smith followed the fielders choice by Huckaby with a walk.

A groundout moved Huckaby and Smith into scoring position for Shawn Ragan who hit a ball into a “Bermuda Triangle” that looked like an out would be made to end the game but the ball was dropped and two runs scored.

A single and a hit batter loaded the bases but Ramey was able to get out of further trouble when Keelen Sloan hit an infield pop to Smith at shortstop to end the game.