Bats come alive at Tri-West

On a blustery evening in Lizton, Crawfordsville emerged victorious in its first conference contest of the season by a score of 15-5.  The away team gathered 16 hits in the game, their highest output to date.

Caleb Rasmussen led the attack with a 3-5 day as five batters had multiple hits. Senior Mitchell Reeves knocked in four runs, including his team-best fourth double of the year, also turning in a sliding catch in left field.

• GAME HIGHLIGHTS (VIDEO)

Pitching for the seventh time in nine games, Chase Justus went two innings, allowing an earned run and fanning four.  Sophomore Garrett Phelps turned in three strong innings of relief, surrending two hits and no runs to pick up his first Varsity win on the hill.  Joel Hobson tossed two scoreless innings to close it out.

After a sloppy bottom of the first in which the Bruins put up four runs, the Athenians came back for a run in each of the next two innings before breaking things wide open with an eight run fourth inning.

The Athenians return to action Thursday when they host Tri-West.  First pitch is slated for 6 o’clock at CHS.

Game Notes:

• Junior second baseman Jake Zurawski will have surgery on his left hand tomorrow.  The three-year starter broke the hand in a game with Harrison last Friday night. Zurawski leads the team in batting with a .444 (8-18) average and has been successful in four attempted stolen bases.
• Road warriors: The Athenians have played eight of their first nine games on the road to open the 2012 season.
• Joel Hobson walked in his final plate appearance in last night’s game, giving the senior 14 base on balls (and four HBP) in nine games. Hobson’s OBP is .676.
• After batting .253 last season, Senior Craig Brainard has impressed at the plate so far by going 12-31 for a .387 average.