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Hazelwood Central Baseball Wins Two Tournaments, Starts at 11-0
By Jim Wieners
Hazelwood Central High School Baseball has started 2016 with wins in their first 11 games played and six of those wins came in two tournaments played the two most recent weekends.
On April 8-9 Hazelwood Central won the North County Classic as the Hawks played all three games at home including an April 9 doubleheader. On April 14-16 Hazelwood Central won the Lutheran North Tournament playing April 14 at The Principia and April 15-16 at Lutheran North.
Hazelwood Central opened the North County Classic April 8 by just litteraly walking over Miller Career Academy, 19-4. With only four hits the Hawks were aided by 19 bases on balls from Phoenix pitching and eight Hawks each walked twice in a four-and-a-half-inning game. Senior Andrew Linzie and junior Melchizedek Williams each scored three times while Senior Mark Haire drove in three runs. Senior Michael Patterson struck out seven Phoenix batters in four innings pitched.
Before noon on April 9 Hazelwood Central played another five-inning game of the North County Classic, this time defeating Trinity Catholic 13-1. There were no walks but the Hawks pounded out 14 hits including six doubles including two each from Haire and senior Kenny Piper. Linzie drove in three runs while Haire, Piper and James McKenzie each drove in two. Linzie, McKenzie and junior Dimitri Frank each scored twice while Williams, winning pitcher, and junior Davin Simmons combined to strkie out six Titan batters.
Later that afternoon on April 9 the Hawks had to go a full seven innings in the North County Classic Championship game but easily put away Lutheran North, 7-1. After scoring single tallies in the second, third and fourth innings the Hawks doubled their run output with three in the fifth inning and added an insurance run in the sixth. Junior Jarame Crawford had three hits, Piper had two hits and drove in two runs, Haire scored twice and Frank pitched a complete-game three-hitter (all singles) striking out nine.
After their scheduled Suburban XII Conference North Divsion game at McCluer North on April 13 was rained out the Hawks began the Lutheran North Tournament April 14 with a 12-1 rout at The Principia and the game went a full seven innings. Haire had three of the Hawks six hits but had the only extra base hit, a home run, driving in three runs while scoring twice. Sophomore Anthony Douglas had two hits and scored three times, McKenzie walked three times and scored twice while Simmons was the winning pitcher limiting the Panthers to five singles and a walk.
Six days after defeating Lutheran North in the North County Classic Hazelwood Central had a rematch on April 15 however it was on the Crusaders home field, the Walter Negwer Baseball Field, but the Hawks were the designated home team. This time it took 10 innings, extras on any level of play and the Hawks pulled off a 1-0 win as Frank’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th was the second out but it also brought home Linzie with the game’s only run.
Haire went 10 innings for a complete-game win as he limited the Crusaders to two singles and a double while strking out eight and walking no one. Offensively the Hawks had nine hits including a Haire double and two singles each from Douglas and sophomore Vashaun Anderson but Lutheran North sophomore pitcher Egan Biggs struck out eight Hawks through eight innings but got no decision.
The next day, April 16, Hazelwood Central returned to Negwer Field at Lutheran North and encounterd another pitcher’s duo against O’Fallon-based St. Dominic in the Lutheran North Tournament Championship game. The Hawks defeated the Crusaders 2-1 on Haire’s walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning off St. Dominic junior starting pitcher Alex Hoff. After spotting a run scored by St. Dominic senior Zach Thorp the Hawks tied the game when junior Jordan Grimmett, running for Haire, scored on a Williams safety squeeze bunt in the fifth to tie it a 1-1. Frank struck out five Crusaders for a complete-game win.
Hazelwood Central had put their 11-0 record on the line April 20 at Kirkwood, rescheduled from April 6. Hazelwood Central meets Hazelwood West in two Suburban XII Conference North Division games, April 26 4 p.m. at West and April 28, 4:15 at Central. Both Hazelwood Central and Hazelwood West play April 29-30 in the Fort Zumwalt North Tournament.
