New Palestine High School

The New Palestine baseball team took advantage of its opportunities Thursday, needing just five hits to beat Perry Meridian 12-3. The Dragons scored in every inning, with the big hit being a three-run homer by Liam Atkinson in the fourth inning that broke the game open. Atkinson was 2-for-2 with four RBI to lead the Dragons. Jacob Morris (1-2, R), Kingston Hedges (1-4, R) and Garrett Elkins (1-1) also tallied hits. The Dragons drew seven walks in the victory. NP jumped ahead 3-0 in the first, as Morris and Hedges led off with hits. A walk to Gavin Neal loaded the bases. Atkinson's sacrifice fly drove in a run, while two more came in on wild pitches. PM scored three runs in the second to tie the game, but the Dragons quickly untied it, as Colin Workman was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on one of the four Falcons errors in the game. In the third, the Dragons loaded the bases without putting the ball in play and pushed home a run on a doubleplay grounder. A walk and two errors plated a run and put two runners on base in the fourth. Atkinson then blasted the first pitch he saw over the leftfield fence for a three-run homer to put the Dragons up 9-3. The Dragons added two more runs in the fifth on two walks, an error, a wild pitch and an RBI groundout, and added one more in the sixth when Atkinson and Elkins hit back-to-back singles. Atkinson scored on the front half of a double-steal. Gavin Neal earned the victory in relief, striking out six and allowing one hit and no walks in four innings. Ajay Kropp fanned three batters to finish the game in the seventh. Jacob Morris started the game and allowed one hit and two earned runs in two innings. The Dragons are now 2-2. They next play Saturday at home against Batesville.