The Chillicothe Hornets baseball team was on the road Tuesday night against Benton. Both teams entered the contest with a winning record and a 1-0 mark in the MEC. Benton made a run all the way to the State Championship game last season but was upset by the Hornets in their lone head to head meeting, setting the stage for a big matchup at Hyde Park.
The Hornets opened the game with a run in the first inning on a Dane Ireland single, it was the first of three RBIs for Ireland in the game. Chillicothe really got rolling in the 3rd when four consecutive hits from Koby Wagers, Noah Rinehart, Howie Donoho and Dane Ireland resulted in three more runs to extend the lead out to 4-0. Benton got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, on a sacrifice fly from Zaidyn Woodward.
With Chillicothe ahead 4-1 in the 5th, the highlight play of the game came courtesy of Noah Rinehart, who took Chris Coy’s pitch deep to right field for a solo home run. Chillicothe entered the final two innings ahead 5-1, as starting pitcher Koby Wagers exited the game following a phenomenal performance. In 5 innings Wagers struck out 8 batters and allowed just one run.
On the other side, the Benton Cardinals pitcher Chris Coy was a challenge for Chillicothe. Coy struck out 14 batters through six and one third innings but the stretch in the 3rd inning paired with the Rinehart blast was the difference for Chillicothe. Howie Donoho closed out the final two innings on the mound, adding two more strikeouts as Chillicothe earned the 5-1 victory to move to the top of the MEC standings.
Chillicothe is now 9-1 overall, 2-0 in the MEC and will host Lafayette on Wednesday.
