A big first-inning shot turned out to be all North Forsyth needed Wednesday.
The Raiders jumped on Central Gwinnett early with a three-run homer from senior Jonah Howell, then kept the Black Knights down the rest of the way in a 6-1 win in Coal Mountain.
Coach Jim Cahill said his staff had talked to the team about the importance of starting strong, and the Raiders (2-0) did just that, with Howell’s shot over the right-center field wall making things 3-0.
Central Gwinnett’s only run came in the top of the second, off a double into the right field corner by Will Henson.
Senior Robby Williams pitched four innings for North, with Casey Hanna and David Nichelson closing the game out in relief.
“We threw it pretty well tonight,” Cahill said.
“It was definitely a good pitching performance. All three guys threw the ball very well. They did a great job. We’ll be in a lot of ball games if they can keep that up.”
North padded its lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three more runs. Brett Hanna came up with a hard-hit double to center to score Howell, who had doubled earlier. Hanna scored after an errant throw to first got through the bag during Christopher Smith’s at-bat, and Tyler Slaton hit a single to right field to score Smith a little later.
North hosts Gainesville (Fla.) High School Saturday morning at 11.
E-mail BJ Corbitt at bjcorbitt@forsythnews.com
The Raiders jumped on Central Gwinnett early with a three-run homer from senior Jonah Howell, then kept the Black Knights down the rest of the way in a 6-1 win in Coal Mountain.
Coach Jim Cahill said his staff had talked to the team about the importance of starting strong, and the Raiders (2-0) did just that, with Howell’s shot over the right-center field wall making things 3-0.
Central Gwinnett’s only run came in the top of the second, off a double into the right field corner by Will Henson.
Senior Robby Williams pitched four innings for North, with Casey Hanna and David Nichelson closing the game out in relief.
“We threw it pretty well tonight,” Cahill said.
“It was definitely a good pitching performance. All three guys threw the ball very well. They did a great job. We’ll be in a lot of ball games if they can keep that up.”
North padded its lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three more runs. Brett Hanna came up with a hard-hit double to center to score Howell, who had doubled earlier. Hanna scored after an errant throw to first got through the bag during Christopher Smith’s at-bat, and Tyler Slaton hit a single to right field to score Smith a little later.
North hosts Gainesville (Fla.) High School Saturday morning at 11.
E-mail BJ Corbitt at bjcorbitt@forsythnews.com