Published: April 29, 2008 01:08 am            

Record breaker: Navarro breaks regular season wins record with sweep of Northeast

The Navarro Bulldogs set a new regular season record for wins Saturday in Mt. Pleasant against Northeast Texas Community College.

By sweeping a doubleheader against the Hawks, the Bulldogs now have 45 wins for the season, surpassing the previous record of 44.

“The guys were excited,” coach Whoa Dill said. “But they know that their ultimate goal is to win the regional tournament and go to Grand Junction, Colo..

“These are mature guys that respect the game and understand what it takes to be good.”

The Bulldogs overtook Northeast in the first game of the day, winning 6-4.

Pitcher Jared Rogers earned his eighth win of the season pitching all seven innings, striking out six Hawks’ hitters.

Navarro went to work early, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Zach Grichor got it started with a lead-off walk to begin the game before Justin Howard brought him in with a two-run home run.

After a single by Brett Parsons, Ross Hubbard added two more runs to the Navarro advantage, hitting a two-run homer of his own.

A Jeff Jones RBI-double contributed the final run of the inning, brining in Caleb Marx who had reached base on a single.

The Hawks tried to cut down their deficit in the bottom of the first with one run coming on an RBI-single by Cody Causey.

Northeast added two more runs in the second inning to trim the Navarro lead to 5-3.

An RBI-single by David Qualls in the sixth inning made it a one run game as Navarro headed to the seventh inning.

The Bulldogs gave themselves some cushion with an RBI-single by Kyle Livingstone to bring Grichor across home plate before Rogers went on to close out the record tying win.

Navarro held off the Hawks again in the second game, winning 6-2.

Garrett Larsen is now a perfect 9-0 on the mound for the Bulldogs, picking up the win in and allowing just two hits in six innings of work.

The Bulldogs (45-8, 25-3 Region XIV) were the first to score again as Grichor was driven in on a single by Justin Howard in the first inning.

Northeast responded quickly, tying the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning.

Mark Mayfield put the Bulldogs back on top with an RBI-single in the second.

Mayfield went 3-for-4 in the game with four RBIs.

Navarro added another run in the top of the fourth as Jeff Jones drove in Hubbard on a single.

Continuing to add to its lead, Navarro went up 5-1 on the Hawks with a two-run single by Mayfield.

Mayfield gave the Bulldogs one more run in the top of the ninth with an RBI-single to get Jones across home plate.

Northeast (16-35, 6-20) was only able to muster one run in the bottom of the inning as the Bulldogs went on to sweep the Hawks for the second time this month.

“It is crazy to go 25-3 in conference like we did,” Dill said. “They only lost one conference game on the road all season.

“Hopefully they can carry that over to the tournament and keep hitting as well as they have.”

Navarro will play its final home game Thursday at 2 p.m. against Hill College.

The Bulldogs will play Tyler Junior College in Tyler to end the year before heading to Mt. Pleasant to begin the Region XIV conference tournament.



Game 1

Navarro 6, Northeast 4

Navarro 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 6 9 2

Northeast 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 — 4 6 0



WP: Jared Rogers (8-1)

LP: Blake Barber

Leading hitters: N: Zach Grichor 1-3 BB, 2R; Justin Howard 2-3 R, HR. 2B, BB, 2RBI; Ross Hubbard 1-2 2BB, R, HR, 2RBI; Kyle Livingstone 1-4 RBI; Caleb Marx 1-3 R; Jeff Jones 1-3 2B. NE: Cody Causey 2-3 2B, SB, R, RBI; Josh Krummel 1-3 R; Daniel Qualls 1-3 RBI.



Game 2

Navarro 6, Northeast 2

Navarro 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 — 6 11 1

Northeast 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 2 5 1



WP: Garrett Larsen (9-0)

LP: Matt O’Neal

Leading hitters: N: Ross Hubbard 2-3 2B, BB, 3R; Jeff Jones 3-3 2B, R, RBI; Mark Mayfield 3-4 SB, 4RBI; Justin Howard 1-3 2BB, SB, RBI. NE: Daniel Qualls 2-4 RBI; Josh Krummel 1-4 2B, SB, R.

Records: Navarro 45-8, 25-3 Region XIV; Northeast 16-35, 6-20.

        

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