Central’s sixth-inning surge pushes Red Devils past Northside

Tuesday's matchup between Central and Northside had the makings of a pitcher's duel bound to come down to the wire.

Then came the sixth inning.

Central's batters blew the close contest open in the sixth, adding five runs to its total to transform a 3-2 duel into a 7-2 dud for the Patriots.

"We got ahead of them, but they've got a real good club," Central head coach Bobby Howard said. "We got a few breaks, but we'll take it. It was encouraging."

Brant Knox started the surge with a bunt toward third base that was mishandled, allowing him to reach on an error. A batter hit by a pitch followed by another error scored the first Red Devil run of the inning.

Soon after, in came another. And another. And another.

By inning's end, Central batted around and racked up three hits, eight baserunners and four runs that extinguished any doubt on the game's end. Northside struggled in the field as Central's runners reached base, making two errors in the process.

"They let us back in the game," Howard said. "We still left the bases load with one out, but we'll take it."

The scoring frenzy completely flipped the pace of the game.

Central outfielder Dayton Edmonds delivered the team's first run in the first inning, followed by two more in the second from Jay Kehoe and a Northside error.

But from there Northside starter Colton Joyner settled in and did not allow another run in his three remaining innings of work.

While the offense became ignited late, Central's pitching held serve for most of the game.

Wade Chandler started and surrendered one earned run in four innings of work. Dalton Wilder, Evan Baber and Tanner Belcher followed and surrendered two earned runs between them.

"Our pitchers might have thrown a little bit better (than Northside's), but that's part of it," Howard said. "I like their club."

The victory was a solid sign that Howard's team had no issues bouncing back after playing four games in three days last week in the LaGrange Invitational.

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Central’s sixth-inning surge pushes Red Devils past Northside."