Hawks defeat Ryan to advance to round two

 

The Hawks will face Southlake Carroll in the second round of the playoffs this weekend after they beat Denton Ryan 5-1 on Saturday.

The Hawks were coming off a victory on May 6 at Ryan High School in which senior pitcher Nick Fraze tossed a complete game shutout with 14 strikeouts to beat the Raiders 3-0.

The next day, Hebron was led once again by a solid pitching performance, this time from junior pitcher Zach DeLoach. He was effectively wild against the Raiders, as he amassed five walks, two hit batters, and three wild pitches, but still managed to strike out nine and give up only three hits and one run. He pitched the full seven innings in his winning effort.

Hebron’s offense rattled Denton Ryan ace Josh Mears early, scoring two runs in the second inning on the first of sophomore Michael Betrus’ three singles. The other run was scored on a balk by Mears. Betrus lined a pitch into right field in the fifth inning as well, driving in two runs and pushing the Hawk run total up to five. Mears ended his day having pitched only 4.2 innings.

Senior left fielder Micah Lloyd picked up right where he left off from the previous night’s game, where he went 3-4, by launching a home run over the fence in left center to put the Hawks up 3-1 in the fourth.

The weekend series against Southlake Carroll will be played at Quiktrip Park in Grand Prairie. Game one will be at 7 p.m. on May 12, game two at 7 p.m. on May 13, and game three (if necessary) at 7 p.m. on May 14.