By Will Dickins
North Delta baseball team took on public school 6A Horn Lake and downed the Eagles 9-4 in varsity action and 8-3 in junior varsity action.  
North Delta 9, Horn Lake 4
Hunter Houston started the game on the mound for North Delta and allowed one run in the first inning.  The Green Wave answered with a run of their own.  Bailey Ross singled to right and was then moved to second on a sac bunt by Houston.  This allowed Hunter Baker to get the much needed RBI to tie the game at 1-1.  
Houston had two walks with one out in the second inning, but a double play on a strikeout and throw down to third base got North Delta out of the inning unscathed.  The bottom half of the inning was the kind of hitting every team dreams about as they scored seven runs.  To start things off, Hayden Hankins, Lige Simmerman, and Tyler Holland all reached base on singles.  With one out, Jones Montgomery knocked one run home on a single to left before Ross brought two more in on a double that bounced off of a diving first baseman. Ethan Calvert added another run on a RBI single.  Hankins came up to the plate again with two outs and earned his team two more runs on a single. Cole Devazier ended the run with one more RBI.  The long inning provided North Delta with an 8-1 lead.  
They held the Eagles off of the scoreboard for most of the game while adding one more run in the fourth inning after a Baker triple and Hankins sacrifice fly.  With nothing left to lose in the last inning, Horn Lake scratched across three runs to bring the score to 9-4. It was not enough as North Delta won thanks to a hot start and solid defensive performance throughout.
Hitters for the Green Wave were: Hankins, two singles and three RBI’s; Ross, one single, one double, two RBI’s, and one steal; Montgomery, two singles and a steal; Baker, one triple, one single, and one RBI; Holland, two singles; Devazier, one single and an RBI; Calvert, one single and one RBI; and Simmerman, one single.
Pitchers for North Delta were: Houston, five innings pitched, seven strikeouts, and one run scored against; Luke Noah, two innings pitched and one strikeout.  
Horn Lake JV 8, ND 3
The junior varsity team started off hot with the first three batters reached base safely on two hits.  Forrest Pierce would get one run batted in, and Shawn Payne added two more to end the first inning leading 3-0.
Defense for the Green Wave was easy for the first two innings as they limited the Eagles to no hits or runs and only allowed two runners on base.  In the bottom half of the second inning, Ian Cole got into scoring position after a single, but could not get home to keep the score the same.  
The Green Wave had a rough third inning when they gave up seven runs on five walks, one error, and two hits.  They could not find any rhythm on offense either and got blanked in the inning.  Horn Lake could only muster up one more run in the fourth, but it was all they needed to keep the score at 8-3 to end the game and get the win.
Leading hitters for North Delta were: Eli Robb with two hits, Pierce with one hit and one RBI, and Payne with two RBI’s.  Others with hits were:  Zack Adams, Caleb Tutor, Drake Barton, and Ian Cole.  Pitching leaders were Nathan Walls with two strikeouts and no runs and Pierce with one strikeout and no runs.
The Green Wave travel to Pascagoula today and tomorrow to play Moss Point and Resurrection Catholic. They then travel to Gulf Shores to play Heritage Academy at 11 a.m. Monday, Jackson Academy at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, and Madison Ridgeland Academy at 9 a.m. Wednesday.