After pitching a leadoff double, North Crawford Trojan’s freshman pitcher Hunter Fortney gave up just two hits until the fourth inning of play against the Ithaca Bulldogs on Monday. Fortney pitched all five innings of the 11-0 Trojan victory, striking out seven and walking three.

North Crawford got it going in the first inning when Estin Salmon stuck out but reached first base on an error by the Ithaca catcher.  He then stole second and scored on a single from Joe Childs. Childs scored on a Texas league single by Matt Friar and with two outs, Friar scored on a double by Fortney. North Crawford put a single run on the board in the second as Tyler Olson scored on a single by Salmon.

The Trojans put single runs on the board in the third and fourth innings as Eric Friar doubled, stole third and scored on a single up the middle hit by Fortney. Salmon scored in the fourth as he reached on an error, went to second on the overthrow, stole third and then stole home making it 6-0 North Crawford.

The Trojans put the game away in the fifth when they scored five more runs and triggered the Mercy rule.

RBI singles by Tyler Olson, Salmon and Jerrid McDaniel were the big hits in the game.

Leading hitters for the Trojans were Hunter Fortney, 2-3 with a double and two RBIs, Eric Friar 2 x 4 – Double, Estin Salmon 2 x 4 – 3 runs scored and 6 stolen bases and Matt Friar 3 RBI’s.

The Trojans finish up their season with a make-up game at Wauzeka on Thursday (May 24) and will open WIAA regional play on Tuesday, May 29 against the winner of the Weston/LaFarge game. The Trojans received the #2 seed in the regional behind #1 DeSoto.