The Preston Pirate varsity spring baseball team earned a pair of home wins this past weekend to improve to 4-0 on the young 2024 campaign.
The Pirates, who entered last weekend ranked fifth in Class 2A, began the 2-game homestand last Thursday with a 9-2 victory over the visiting Kellyville Ponies, then earned an 8-0 shutout win this past Saturday against county rival Morris to continue the early 4-game winning streak.
The Preston diamond squad were back in action Monday with a trip to Varnum for a showdown with the Varnum Whippets and will close out the week at the Drumright Tournament, beginning with an opening-round matchup with the Frontier Mustangs Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
In last Thursday’s home win over Kellyville, the Pirates broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the second, then added two in the third and one in the fifth for a 4-0 advantage after five innings of action.
Kellyville cut the Preston lead in half, 4-2, with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, while the host Pirates put the game out of reach with a 5-run bottom of the sixth, then secured the 7-run victory by keeping the Ponies off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh.
Kellen Dean earned the pitching win for Preston, allowing one run on two hits with five walks and three strikeouts in five-plus innings of work.
Braxton Kennedy worked the remainder of the sixth in relief, giving up one run on no hits, striking out one, walking one, and hitting two.
Kaden Dean struck out one in a perfect inning of relief in the seventh, retiring all three batters faced in the frame.
Jayden Herring was the top hitter for the Pirates last Thursday, finishing 3 for 3 with three singles and an RBI.
The other five Preston base hits against Kellyville came on singles by Kennedy and Easton Shaw, RBI singles by Kaden Dean and Pepper Gallup, and an RBI double by Bradley Winford.
In Saturday’s county battle with Morris, the trio of Kaden Dean, Noah Wilson, and Jayden Herring combined to no-hit the Eagles in the 5-inning, runrule, victory. Dean worked the first three innings to earn the pitching win, striking out seven and walking one. Wilson struck out two and walked two in an inning of relief work in the fourth, while Herring struck out one in a perfect inning of relief in the fifth.
The only baserunners for the Eagles on Saturday were Koen Burgess, Gage Adkins, and Dakota Smith, who all reached on walks in the contest.
Robert Woods was saddled with the pitching loss for Morris, giving up six runs on four hits with one strikeout, three walks, and one hit batter in three innings of work.
Lance Clark allowed two runs on three hits with one walk in one inning of relief work in the fourth.
The host Pirates began the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first, then added three in the second, one in the third, and two in the fourth for the 8-0 decision.
Kellen Dean, who finished 2 for 2 with a pair of singles and 2 RBIs, led the Preston offensive attack in the county battle, while the other Pirate base hits on Saturday came on singles by Bradley Winford, Kaden Dean, and Waylon Cope and RBI singles by Easton Shaw and Hunter McElhannon.
— Thursday, March 14 Preston 9, Kellyville 2
Kellyville:0-0-0-0-0-2-0 2-2-1 Preston:0-1-2-0-1-5-x 9-8-2 WP: Kellen Dean LP: Thornbrue HR: None — Saturday, March 16 Preston 8, Morris 0
Morris: 0-0-0-0-0 0-0-2 Preston: 2 – 3 – 1 – 2 – x 8 – 7 – 0 WP: Kaden Dean LP: Robert Woods HR: None
