DAVENPORT, Florida - The Prairie Fire baseball team dropped their first three games for spring break in Florida.
Ben Bucher gave Knox an early 2-0 lead in game one against Central with a two-run homer in the top of the first inning. The Dutch answered with four runs of their own in the bottom half and went on to win the game 11-5. Evan Laws also added an RBI for the Prairie Fire.
Knox jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in game two against Central, but the Dutch scored nine runs in the last two innings to come away with a 12-9 win. Brandon Ward looked sharp in his Prairie Fire debut, giving up two runs in three innings. Chase Thies finished 2-for-3 with a home-run and three RBI. Matt Shover added a 2-for-4 performance.
Knox battled a tough Hamilton team in game three. After a rain delay, the Prairie Fire trailed 5-3 going into the ninth inning but Hamilton scored nine runs to put the game away wasting a stellar start by pitcher Matt Shover. He allowed four runs in six innings. Cole Tanner led the Prairie Fire with a 2-for-3 performance.
"We got off to a rough start against Central, but really only had three bad innings in the second two games playing against some tough competition," said associate head coach James Clark. "We have some things to tighten up, but the foundation is there for us to be pretty good when we figure it all out."
Â