Of the Paris College Dragons’ 14 hits against Angelina College on Friday, no more than five were of the hard-hit variety.
The Dragons dinked and dunked the rest of their hits with an array of bloopers and bleeders to take down the Roadrunners 8-5 in the opening game of a three-game series at Roadrunner Field in Lufkin.
Paris is attempting to leave Lufkin with a sweep, hoping to jump the ‘Runners in the final standings. AC will need one win in Saturday’s doubleheader, the regular-season finale, to secure the third spot in the upcoming conference tournament.
Mitchell Andrews knocked a two-run homer in the second inning for AC, and Dustin West, Chase Adams and Mitch Henshaw each drove in runs for the Roadrunners.
Paris’ Matthew Nemecek lofted a solo homer just over the left-field wall in the fifth inning, and the Dragons scored twice in the sixth to take a 5-3 lead. AC tied things up at 5-5 on Henshaw’s groundout in the seventh, only to see Paris get an RBI bloop single from Chad Hardy in the eighth and two runs on a bunt single, an error and a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
The teams resume play on Saturday in a doubleheader scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. The Roadrunners will celebrate Sophomore Day with a pre-game celebration just before the opener.
The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.
