Eagles pound 4 homers to beat Benjamin Franklin in opening round of 3A playoffs

2022 Thatcher High School Baseball Team

QUEEN CREEK — The 9th seeded Thatcher Eagles pounded out 15 hits, including 4 homeruns to beat #8 Benjamin Franklin 11-10 in the 1st round of the 3A State Baseball Playoffs on Tuesday.

Thatcher jumped to an early 3-0 lead through 2 innings before the Chargers put up a four spot in the bottom of the 4th inning to take their first lead of the game.

The Eagles added two runs each in the 4th and 5th inning to take a 7-4 lead. Koye Farris and Brandon Napier added solo homeruns in the two innings to pace Thatcher. Benjamin Franklin added 2 in the bottom of the 5th to stay within striking distance at 7-6.

The Thatcher bats were back at it in the 6th inning as Napier hit his second homer of the game, this time a 3-run bomb and after a pitching change Trevin Gaylord made it back-to-back jacks with a solo shot, giving the Eagles a 10-6 lead. Benjamin Franklin loaded the bases in the bottom of the 6th and pushed across four runs of their own and cut Thatcher’s lead back to just 1. Neither team could muster any offense in the 7th and the Eagles survived to see the quarterfinals.

Brandon Napier started on the mound for the Eagles. He gave up six runs on 8 hits in 4 2/3 innings. Jasher Moffitt relieved him and gave up 4 runs on 2 hits in 2/3 of an inning. Landen Rios pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to close it out for Thatcher, giving up only 1 hit.

Napier was 2-3 at the plate with the 2 homeruns and 4 RBI. Tanner Rios was 3-4 with an RBI as well.

Thatcher will face #1 Northwest Christian on Saturday, May 7th at 2pm at Northwest Christian High School. The Crusaders defeated #16 Winslow 6-1 in the opening round.

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