The Huntland High School Hornets beat the Moore County Raiders 9-7 at home on March 24 for their eighth win of the season.

The Hornets saw two different three-run leads disappear in the district contest, but they were able to pull ahead for good in the fifth inning to remain unbeaten on the season.

Huntland head baseball coach Brent Davis said that his team has continued to perform well on both sides of the ball to facilitate a strong start to the year.

“They’re hitting really well right now, the pitchers are throwing great right now, and just starting like this, they’ve got that winning attitude,” he said before referring to his team’s games against Moore County on Monday and Tuesday. “Every time we would get up a little bit, they would come back, and they kept sticking around in the game. That’s what I was talking to them about. These are hard games to win, but they’re good games to win early.”

The Hornets took their first lead for the contest in the bottom of the first as Jed Ashley recorded an RBI single and Caleb Maxwell and Bryant Mooney hit consecutive sacrifice flies to make it a 3-0 game.

However, the Raiders put together their own three-run frame in the top of the second to tie the score at 3-3 early.

The Hornets pulled back ahead in the bottom of the third as Carson Riley came around to score off of an error following a single from Ashley, and another sacrifice fly from Caleb Maxwell allowed Ashley to score from third base to give Huntland a 5-3 advantage.

An RBI single from Grant Jernigan in the bottom of the fourth pushed the Hornets’ lead up to 6-3 at the game’s midway point.

The Raiders rallied once again in the top of the fifth as they scored three more runs in the frame to tie the game at 6-6.

However, the Hornets quickly retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Kasen Kildoo hit a tworun triple and later scored off of an error on a ball hit by Parker Schultz to make it a 9-6 game.

The Raiders scored another run in the top of the sixth off of an error to cut Huntland’s lead down to 9-7.

The first two batters for the Raiders in the top of the seventh reached base on a walk and a single, respectively, but the lead runner was caught stealing third shortly afterward, and pitcher Caleb Maxwell struck out the next two batters to clinch the two-run victory.

Jernigan pitched the first 4 1-3 innings for the Hornets with six strikeouts, seven hits, three walks, three earned runs and three unearned runs allowed for the day.

Caleb Maxwell pitched the remaining 2 2-3 innings in relief with three strikeouts, three hits, two walks and one unearned run allowed.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 8-0 on the season and 2-0 in district play.

Hornets 4, Moore County 1

The Hornets beat the Moore County Raiders 4-1 on the road on March 23 for their seventh win of the season.

The Hornets took an early lead in the contest and expanded their advantage in the final inning to secure a victory in their first district game of the year.

Jernigan led off the game with an insidethe- park home run to instantly get the Hornets on the board, and a sacrifice fly from Mooney later in the frame gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

The Hornets loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the third as Jernigan reached base on an error, Ashley got hit by a pitch and Mooney drew a walk, but a flyout then ended the inning before any of them could score.

The Raiders scored their lone run for the day in the bottom of the third off of a two-out error to cut Huntland’s lead down to 2-1.

However, the Hornets pulled away in the top of the seventh as Schultz singled and Jernigan doubled to get on base before both came around to score off of an error on a ball hit by Riley to make it a 4-1 game.

The Raiders had one runner reach base on a single in the bottom of the seventh, but pitcher Eli Fitch struck out the next two batters to clinch a three-run victory.

Fitch pitched a complete game for the Hornets with nine strikeouts, four hits, one walk and one unearned run allowed.

With the win, the Hornets improved to 7-0 on the season and 1-0 in district play.

They next played Monday at home against Skyline High School in a game which came after the Herald Chronicle’s press deadline.