Billingsley baseball blasts past Mustangs

Published 11:31 am Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The Billingsley Bears knocked off the Isabella Mustangs, 11-2, on Tuesday night—thanks in no small part to 14 hits in the game by the Bears.

After a lead off single by Willie Smith, Bears pitcher Jamie Barnett mowed down the next three Mustang batters by way of three consecutive strikeouts.

Two-straight outs to start the home half of the first inning did not deter the Bears, as Joseph Nixon got things started with a double to left field.

A walk to Thomas Nichols and a single by Dylan Chavers set up a two-run double by Jarrett Acreman to give the Bears an early 2-0 lead.

A leadoff walk to Christopher Sherrell did nothing for the Mustangs as the Bears once again retired the next three batters in order.

A one-out single by Kendall Elrod resulted in no runs for the home team, as the score remained 2-0 after two innings of play.

The top of the third inning started with another Barnett strikeout, while Smith was left stranded on base by consecutive fly balls to end the top half of the inning.

With the Bears going quietly through the bottom half of the inning, the score remained 2-0 after three innings of play.

The Mustangs got on the board in the top half of the fourth when a Jeffrey Underwood infield single led to an RBI single by Aaron Donaldson.

The Bears went down in order in to bottom half of the inning as the Mustangs cut the lead to one.

A two out single by Jacob Carroll resulted in no help for the Mustangs in the top of the fifth.

The Bears, meanwhile, reeled off five runs in the home half of the inning. Tyler Powell and Nixon started the inning with back-to-back one-out singles.

A walk to Nichols and Chavers pushed Powell across the plate and a single by Acreman up the middles scored Nixon.

With the bases full of Bears, a two-out double by Eric Willis cleared the bases to give Billingsley a 7-1 lead.

Sherrell scored on a Donaldson infield ground ball in the top of the sixth inning, but four more Billingsley runs in the bottom half of the inning pushed the Bears out further ahead of the Mustangs.

A Powell double scored Dalton Davis, who reached on an infield error by the Mustangs, and a Nixon double scored Powell.

Chavers scored Nixon on a single to the left side and Chavers later crossed the plate on a Noah Godwin sacrifice fly to right center field.

With the Mustangs going in order in the top of the seventh, the Bears picked up the win at home.

Nixon led the Bears at the plate with a 4-for-4 performance with two singles, two doubles and an RBI.

Barnett pitched six innings for the Bears, allowing six hits, two earned runs and recording four walks and six strikeouts.

Donaldson led the Mustangs, going 1-for-3 with a single and two RBI. Carroll pitched six innings for the Mustangs, allowing 14 hits with nine earned runs, issuing three walks and picking up six strikeouts.

-Sports correspondent Brandon Sumrall contributed to this report.