New Waverly slips past Hardin 4-1

Hayden Sopchak pitched five strong innings for the Hardin Hornets on Friday night at home against New Waverly, but a couple of errors proved costly in a 4-1 loss to the Bulldogs in district action. Sopchak struck out three in his work on the mound and allowed only four hits. Caden Elmore came in and pitched the final two innings for Hardin and struck out three. New Waverly grabbed a run in the top of the first inning and then added two more in the third to move in front 3-0. Hardin then got on the board with a run in the bottom of the fifth to get a little closer. Elmore singled to get things started and then moved to second on a walk by Carson Williams. Rylee Board then reached on an error to load the bases. Two pitches later, it was Elmore scoring on a passed ball to get the Hornets within 3-1. Hardin could not do any more damage as the New Waverly pitcher came back to record a strikeout for the third out of the inning to get out of the jam. The Hornets did get a Ryan Harris single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Bulldogs closer would come back to get the third out of the inning to give New Waverly the win. Austin Potetz also had a hit for Hardin. The Hornets will be back in action on April 20 at Onalaska.