WEST POINT, Ala. – After routing Locust Fork at home 13-2 Friday night, the Warriors returned home to take on Decatur and extended their win streak to seven games with an 8-4 win over the Red Raiders. Eli Folds got the start on the hill and earned the win after tossing five innings, allowing just two hits with no earned runs and striking out five. Will Cochran took the mound for the final two innings to finish off the win for West Point, giving up two hits, a run and striking out three.
Decatur went down in order in the top of the first and Branson Smith scored on a sacrifice fly from Cochran to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning. After a quick second inning, the Red Raiders scored on a passed ball in the top of the third to tie things up at 1 but that score didn’t hold for long.
JD Cochran led off the bottom of the third with a walk and Folds singled into left field to give the Warriors a pair of runners on base. A few pitches later, Smith doubled into left and drove in Cochran and Folds to give West Point a 3-1 lead. Aubry Cleghorn tacked on another run with an RBI double into center field and an RBI single off the bat of Caiden Rodgers made it a 5-1 game. Chase Sibley was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the Warriors took a commanding, 6-1 lead into the fourth inning.
Decatur went three up, three down once again in the top of the fourth but West Point was kept off the board in its half of the inning as well. Another passed ball and a run on a fielder’s choice helped the Red Raiders cut the lead to 6-3 in the fifth, but the Warriors were able to put things out of reach in the bottom half of the inning. Carter Thornton led things off with a double into left field and Isaac Hoffpauir singled a few pitches later to drive him home and make it 7-3. Later in the inning, Sibley drove an RBI single up the middle to score Hoffpauir and stretch the lead to 8-3 going into the sixth.
Decatur was able to string some hits together in the top of the sixth and trim the lead to 8-4 but Cochran shut them down in the seventh, securing an 8-4 win for West Point.
Hoffpauir (one RBI) led the Warriors with three hits in the win. Smith (two hits) posted two RBIs and Sibley (one hit) drove in a pair of runs as well. Will Cochran, Rodgers and Cleghorn each finished with a hit and an RBI.
With the win, West Point extends its win streak to seven games and will try to stay hot on the road against West Morgan Tuesday.
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