Hanna baseball completes season sweep of rival Westside

April 09--When Daniel Crenshaw took over at T.L. Hanna the main goal he discussed with his players was taking care of business on the Yellow Jackets' home field. So far his club has lost just a preseason game and a region game to first-place Easley.

Hanna continued its success at home Tuesday with a 6-2 win over city rival Westside.

Adam Hill picked up his fifth win of the season and the Jackets found ways to manufacture runs to complete the season sweep of Westside.

Now, in the midst of a tight race for playoff spots in Region 1-AAAA, Hanna (7-3 in region) will have to play three of its last four region games on the road at Greenwood, Easley and Laurens.

"We're just going to have to come together as a team, stay together, build each other up," Hanna senior Taylor Cothran said. "We need to have each other's backs and know if one of us gets down we'll pick each other up and keep going. Our main thing is to win here and then we're going to have to support each other when we travel."

Cothran, a Citadel signee, went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI while Tyler Miller and Nick Whitfield drove in two runs apiece.

Despite having just one win in region play, Westside had Hanna's undivided attention after the Rams challenged the Jackets early in the season and then scored two unearned runs off Hill to start the game Tuesday.

"There's just a sense of confidence when you play (Westside). You feel like you have to execute, you have to succeed," Cothran said.

"This is really big being our senior year. This is our last game ever against them. It's nice to know that for the rest of your life you can say you beat them."

Hanna answered back with three runs in the bottom of the first when Miller led off with a walk and Matthew Reynolds singled with one out. Cothran hit a grounder through the right side to plate a run and Whitfield's single to right drove in two more.

The Jackets added a run in the fourth and loaded the bases in the fifth. Chase Christopher and Miller drew walks to add the insurance runs.

Hill, the ace of the Hanna staff, tossed five scoreless innings the rest of the way, striking out four and not issuing a walk.

"He didn't have his best stuff," Crenshaw said of Hill. "I felt like he labored through. His slider wasn't as sharp as it normally is. But one thing we've talked about with Adam is 75-85 percent Adam is better than a lot of guys out there. He's just has to give us a chance."

Caleb Moss took the loss for the Rams after giving up six runs (four earned), six hits and walking eight batters. Lummie Young and Kory Roberts each had two hits.

Follow Adam Regan on Twitter @AIM_ARegan

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