On Friday night the DeKalb West school baseball team  hosted  the Providence Christian Lions out of Murfreesboro. The Dawgs won the game, thumping the Lions 12-2.
In the top of the first it was the Dawgs’ Sam McMillen who took the mound looking to keep the Lions’ scoring miminal. McMillen looked a bit sluggish as his first three pitches were all deemed out of the strike zone for a 3-0 count. On McMillen’s fourth pitch, the batter made contact dropping the ball in for a single. The second batter made it to a 2-2 count then grounded into a single with the Dawgs forcing the out at second base.
The third batter laid down a ground ball as well reaching first on a fielder’s choice with a force out at second. The fourth batter for the Lions singled on an error from the Dawgs.
With two outs and a runners on the corners, McMillen finished off the Lions’ batter with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the first, Joey Moon led off at bat, chipping in a single. The next batter, Jacob Self received his first pitch called a ball, while Moon came around to steal second. Self would  reach base on a 4-0 count. A.J. Mooneyham was next in the line-up and knocked a deep fly  to center field for a double, bringing Moon around  to score for an RBI. At clean-up duty was McMillen. Before McMillen could grab his first hit  with a 1-2 count, Self was thrown out  attempting to steal. On the next pitch McMillen would fly-out deep to center-field. Lane Davenport would be the next batter but would fly-out on his second pitch to end the inning with the Dawgs on top 1-0 heading into the second inning.
The top of the second, McMillen walked the first batter, then made quick work of  the inning striking out the next two batters, then forcing the fourth batter to ground out.
In the bottom of the second, the Lions held the Dawgs in check, retiring three straight. First up was Caleb Stanley who grounded out to second. Josh Hembree was the next batter also grounding out. Gentry Harpole would finish the inning  by striking out.
In the top of the third, the Dawgs defense let their guard down a bit as the inning started out with a runner reaching first as he was unintentionally hit by a pitch from McMillen. As the second batter took his first pitch, the runner on first successfully stole second base. McMillen’s next pitch was wild which resulted in the runner  also stealing third.
With a runner on third the Lions played the field smart, dropping down a bunt for a single and also bringing the runner into score, giving them the lead 2-1. The next batter would ground out but not before the runner on first advanced to third base with one out in the inning. The next  batter grounded out to second, then McMillen struck out the last batter to end the Lions’ inning.
In the bottom of the third Matthew Poss was the batter, reaching first by way of a walk. The next batter, Moon, would fly-out to right field. Self would be the third batter, Poss would move onto steal second. Poss would then advance to third on a pass ball. Self would be walked. With runners on the corners, Mooneyham would reach first on a fielder’s choice, bringing Poss around to score and Self would be tagged out at second. Next up to bat McMillen, would drive in a single that would bring Mooneyham into score. Davenport was next up to the plate, as he took his first pitch McMillen would steal second, and shortly after stealing second he would also steal third. Davenport would ground out to end the inning.
In the top of the fourth, McMillen would force the first two batters to ground out McMillen would show small signs of fatigue as he would walk the next two batters putting runners on first and second. He would redeem himself and force the fifth batter to ground out  and start the bottom of the fourth.
The bottom of the inning, Stanley led things off with a single on an error by the Lions’ defense. Next up was Hembree who struck out and Stanley was caught with a big lead off first and was picked off. Harpole ripped in a single and Poss followed with a single of his own. With runners now the corners, it was Moon up to bat, and he blasted a line drive straight to the short-stop for the third out to end the inning.
In the top of the fifth there was a change in the line-up as McMillen moved from pitcher to first base and Mooneyham came in as the closing pitcher.
Moonyham proved worthy of the substitution as he  forced his first batter to ground out walked his second and struck out his next two batters.
For the Lions the bottom of the fifth proved difficult as they allowed nine runs to score. The Lions pitching would allow four runners to score on balls as the bases were loaded.
The Dawgs would claim victory in the fifth inning thanks to the “run rule” with a 12-2 showing. The Dawgs move to 3-0.
Poss went one-for-one with a single,was walked twice, had one stolen base and a RBI. McMillen went three-for-four with three singles, three RBI’s, and three stolen bases. Mooneyham went two-for-four with a single, a double and three RBI’s. Harpole went one-for-three with a single, a RBI and was walked once. Hembree went one-for-three with a single and an RBI. Moon went one-for-three with a single, one RBI and was walked once. Davenport went hitless in three attempts with one walk. Stanley also went hitless with a walk. Self was zero-for-four with two RBI’s and was walked twice.
The Dawgs next game will be in the Cornerstone Tournament in Cookeville March 15-17.