Tuesday was a night of big wins for the West Henderson baseball teams in their matches against. Erwin. JV won their game 17-1 and varsity won 9-5.

With this being the first baseball game in over a year, fans were excited to get back out and watch the boys play. JV started off hot with big plays in the field and some great hitting. Freshman Jude Lyda and Robert Waters combined for 5 RBIs and sophomore Lukas Kachilo led the team in stolen bases. Sophomore Jake Lindsey came in to close the game out at pitcher and had the game ending strikeout. JV won in 5 innings by the mercy rule.

“We have all been really excited to get back on the field,” Lindsey said. “It’s always a great feeling to be playing baseball and this year we have a chance to be a great team.”

The varsity boys did not have an ideal start to their game. In the first inning they gave up 4 runs and scored none back. In the second inning they scored a run but were still losing 4 to 1. In the second inning the falcons decided to switch pitchers, and in came freshman Truitt Manuel. Manuel would end the game only giving up 1 hit, 1 run, and throwing 10 strikeouts. In The 3rd inning the Falcons really started to pull away from many errors by Erwin. Sophomore Alex Anderson brought in the first run. Then, on a wild pitch that got away from the catcher 2 more runs came in to tie the game at 4. The Falcons ended the inning with 6 runs. Erwin only scored one more run for the rest of the night. Varsity wins it 9-5.

“Baseball is baseball,” Manuel said. “I came in hyped. I stepped up to the mound, took a couple deep breaths, then just tried to do what I do.”

Baseball’s next home game is next Thursday May 6 vs. Enka. Come out and support your Falcons.

By: Cooper Hughes, Staff Writer