Hume Hornets win home tournament

The Hume Hornets varsity baseball team earned two strong victories over the weekend to take the Hume Invitational tournament title, defeating NEVC 8-2 and Butler 4-3 on Saturday.

Junior Zach Austin pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on one hit with five walks. Austin recorded five strikeouts on the day and also led the offensive effort, going 3-for-4 at the plate with three doubles and four RBIs.

Senior Ryan Austin went 4-for-4 with two doubles and one RBI. Eric Pruitt was 3-for-4 with a home run and Bobby Berry added the other RBI for the Hornets.

The Hornets went on to defeat Butler in the championship game by a final score of 4-3. Ryan Austin pitched the entire contest and got off to a rocky start, allowing one hit and three consecutive walks to give Butler the early 2-0 lead.

The Hornets rallied to tie the game in the home half of the inning as Berry led off with a double and Wylie Miller walked, setting up back-to-back RBI hits by Pruitt and Austin. The Hornets were able to add two more runs in the sixth inning on three hits before Austin closed out the game, giving up two hits in the seventh inning before regaining his composure to take the one-run victory.

Austin finished the game allowing three runs on five hits with four walks. He also recorded 17 strikeouts.