The Marshall County Dusters began the 2013 summer baseball season by defeating the Creek Wood Red Hawks 6-3 at Columbia Central High School in the 16th Annual Southern Athletic Fields Invitational on Thursday afternoon.

Marshall County took control of the game early and built a 4-0 lead through the first four innings of play. Creek Wood then crossed home plate three times in the top of the fifth to slice the deficit to 4-3, but the Dusters responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame to open up a 6-3 advantage before Marshall County starting pitcher Ryan McDaniel held the Red Hawks scoreless over the final two innings.

Full game

Despite having to overcome four Duster errors, McDaniel went the distance on the mound to pick up the win and scattered seven hits and a walk over seven innings while notching six strikeouts.

Marshall County finished with seven hits as well, but were also aided by three walks, three hit batsmen, and two Creek Wood errors. Aaron Hobbs (2 RBI), Cameron Isley (1 RBI), Matt Sharp, Bubba Houghton, Zack Kirby, Trent Wiles, and Connor Bush each notched one hit for the Dusters.

"We've been off for a couple of weeks and had only two days of practice so we were happy with the way we played," said Marshall County coach Mike Reese. "We had a lot of young guys in the lineup and I thought they did pretty well."

The Red Hawks left two runners on base in the top of the first inning before the Dusters plated two runs in the bottom half of the frame behind two hit batsmen, a Houghton walk, a Creek Wood error, and a RBI single by Isley to take a 2-0 lead.

Moving ahead

After McDaniel worked around an error in the top of the second with the help of a 6-3 double play, Marshall County tallied a run in the bottom half of the inning to open up a 3-0 advantage. Wiles drew a walk to lead off the frame prior to advancing to second on a errant pickoff throw. Bush then reached base on a bunt single to put runners on first and third with no outs before Wiles raced home on a sacrifice fly by Hobbs.

In the top of the fourth, the Red Hawks had a chance to cut into the deficit when they loaded the bases with two outs on an error and two singles, but McDaniel struck out the next Creek Wood batter to escape the jam.

The Dusters then stretched their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Zack Kirby scored on a RBI triple by Hobbs after singling and advancing to third on a Wiles sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch.

Dusters fight back

Creek Wood tallied three unearned runs in the top of the fifth on two hits and two Marshall County errors to narrow the gap to 4-3, but the Dusters quickly counterpunched and pushed across two runs in the bottom half of the frame to forge a 6-3 advantage. Following an infield single by Sharp, Houghton belted a ground rule double to put runners on second and third with no outs. Sharp then scampered home on a sacrifice fly by McDaniel before Harmon drove in Houghton with a RBI groundout.

After the Red Hawks stranded a runner at third in the sixth inning, McDaniel worked around a leadoff double in the top of the seventh to secure the win for Marshall County.