Coates, GW shut down Dan River baseball

RINGGOLD — The George Washington High baseball team managed just six base hits in Wednesday’s game against Dan River.

But four of those went for extra bases, and the Eagles also took advantage of numerous Dan River miscues and rolled to a 12-0 victory over the Wildcats in a game that ended after five innings due to the 10-run rule.

GW (2-0) broke open a tight game in the fifth inning, sending 14 batters to the plate and capitalizing on four walks, two hit batters and an error to score 10 runs off four Dan River pitchers. Josh Hackworth contributed a 2-run triple in the inning and Dylan Tate added an RBI double.

Travis Coates pitched a complete game shutout for GW, allowing just two hits, striking out five and walking three.

“I’m proud of our effort,” said GW coach Wayne Shelton.

“I thought we played well. I thought Travis pitched extremely well. … We’re young and we’re still improving, and we’re working hard. We need to do a few small things a little bit better, but I’m proud of what we’re doing to get better.”

The game was scoreless until the top of the third. Coates reached on an error leading off the inning and Kevin Carter was inserted as a courtesy runner. Carter raced over to third on a double by James Feldmann and scored on an infield grounder by Christian Clifton.

The Eagles made it 2-0 in the fourth. Preston Smith singled with one out and Carter ran for him. Jackson Heard and Morgan Fulton both walked to load the bases, and Coates hit into a fielder’s choice as Carter crossed the plate.

Dan River threatened in its half of the fourth. Blake Seay delivered a leadoff single and went to second on a wild pitch. Coates fanned the next two hitters before Matt Edwards walked. But Trey Haymore lined out to Tate at shortstop to end the threat.

Hackworth and Fulton each drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Heard added a 2-run double that made it 6-0. Two runs scored on wild pitches and another came home when Fulton was struck by a pitch with the bases loaded. Hackworth’s triple and Tate’s double put the finishing touches on the inning.

“We ran into problems throwing strikes,” said Dan River coach Sam McCormick. “Hitting, we were off today, and I think a lot of it, maybe we were trying too hard. … We just failed to get strikes, and we kept putting them in position to score, and it just mounted up.”

GW hosts Magna Vista at noon on Saturday in a doubleheader at Dan Daniel Park. Dan River, meanwhile, opens Dogwood District play at 6 p.m. Friday at home against Chatham.