Four men’s games were played in Church League on Thursday night, but none were closer than the matchup between Westwood and Central in Men’s A division.
Westwood came up with three runs in the top of the seventh and held Central scoreless in the bottom of the inning to preserve a 13-12 win.
Central looked poised to pick up its first win of the year when the team entered the seventh inning leading 12-10.
Westwood wasn’t ready to give up though. John Ryan Tubb began the inning with a double, but was followed by a line drive out by Cody Deason.
Jay Medley gave Westwood the tying run on base with a single up the middle and Tubb came around to score when John Hanson’s flare into left field fell safely in between Central’s left fielder and shortstop.
Andrew Willmore came up with a big sacrifice fly to bring in Medley and tie the game. Willmore’s pop fly was the second out, but Westwood rolled on two to take the lead.
Mac Britton singled to keep the inning alive and it proved to be the difference. Kent Winfree came up with his third hit to bring around Britton and give Westwood the lead.
Central had a chance to tie, but only Slayden Rogers was able to reach base in the final inning. Brandon Jones lined out to the shortstop to end the game, leaving Central’s lineup one spot short of reaching Jeff Chisam.
Chisam led Central with four hits, including hitting his league-leading fourth home run. Todd Dunn also went 4-for-4 for Central and hit a home run to lead off the fifth inning. Rogers finished with four hits as well from his leadoff position. Central fell to 0-4 with the loss.
Hanson and Clint Newman finished with four hits each to help Westwood improve to 3-1. Devin Mason hit a two-run home run in the first inning, giving him three for the season.
In other Men’s A division games, Hebron defeated Temple 19-8 and Madison Street outlasted Morrison 19-16.
Hebron and Temple took part in a slugfest on Field 1 as the teams combined for six home runs. Hebron got a three-run blast from Gary Milstead in the fifth, a two-run towering fly by Michael Jones in the second and a solo shot by Justin Rhea in the third.
Temple countered with a two-run home run by Jeff Simmons in the second and solo shots by Coty Grissom and Wes Williams.
Madison Street got four hits each from Cody Young and Terry Beard, along with a home run by Bryan Bouldin to beat Morrison and move its record to 1-2.
Terry Allen’s four hits and Ryan Williams’ two home runs weren’t enough as Morrison dropped to 1-3.
In the lone Men’s B division game, Church Boys blasted Rock Island 31-10.
Jared Vanatta had five hits, including two inside-the-park home runs, from his leadoff position for Church Boys. Chris Mullican also had five hits, drove in seven runs and hit his second home run of the season. Church Boys improved to 2-1 with the victory.
Rock Island, which lost for the fourth straight time, was led by Scott Moore and Trevor Bell. Moore and Bell each went 3-for-3.