Indians win 2018 baseball season opener behind pitching of Austin Bunn, Ramey and Wright

SHARPSBURG-The East Coweta Indians broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with six runs Monday night and added four more in the final two innings as they opened the 2018 season with a 10-0 win over the Fayette County Tigers.

Another Fayette County school will be the next opponent as the Indians will host the McIntosh Chiefs in a non-region game Tuesday night in Sharpsburg at 5:30.

Austin Bunn had an up and down first inning as the Tigers loaded the bases but was able to leave the runners stranded as he retired the final batter of the frame on a called third strike and retired the side in order in the top of the second with strikeouts.

Ahmad Ali proved to be tough in the bottom of the inning as he retired the side in order on called third strikes but would run into trouble in the bottom of the second as the Indians threatened to score early.

With one out, Jeff Sangster and Caleb Cashion reached on consecutive walks with the former advancing around the bases on a pair of fielding miscues.

However, Ali would settle down by recording a strikeout and a pop fly to short that would halt the scoring opportunity for the Indians.

The bottom of the fourth inning was a different matter for Ali as Sangster reached on another walk and with one out reached second on a bloop single by Dooley Bunn.

An infield error allowed Sangster to advance to third and the junior came home with the first run of the season as Daniel Smith recorded a sacrifice fly to center field.

The inning was not over as Trevor Crowdis reached on a single and Bailey Psathas reached on a walk that loaded the bases for Nick Daniel who batted after Ali was replaced on the mound by Spencer Hulsey.

Daniel greeted Hulsey with a shot into left center field that resulted in a bases clearing double that gave the Indians a 4-0 advantage.

Walks to Ryan Dyal and William Kelley loaded the bases and a pair of wild pitches allowed Daniel and courtesy runner Myles Dowell to come home and account for the other two runs of the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Indians threatened to end the game on the mercy rule after two outs as Tony Player singled and Psathas reached on a walk with both coming home on an error by the Tigers’ left fielder that allowed Daniel to reach base.

Daniel came home on a double by Dyal and the lead was 9-0 but the Indians were denied the 10^th run as a groundout ended the frame.

However, the Indians were able to end the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as Ethan Walker reached on a leadoff single and eventually score with two outs in the frame as a flyball to right field was mishandled to end the game.

Fayette County was charged with five errors in the game.

After tossing three innings of two-hit, six strikeout baseball, Austin Bunn was lifted in favor of Peyton Ramey in the top of the fourth inning.

Ramey pitched two innings allowing one hit and recorded two strikeouts and was the winning while Lanier Wright pitched the top of the sixth inning.