New Palestine High School

The New Palestine baseball team had to wait more than two hours to begin Tuesday's conference game against Greenfield-Central. The late start led to late fireworks, as the Dragons plated eight runs in the sixth inning to rally to a 10-4 victory over G-C. The Dragons are now 11-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play, moving into a first-place tie with G-C, Mt. Vernon and Pendleton Heights, who all have two losses. The Dragons never led until their last at-bat, when they plated eight runs on four hits, punctuated by Jackson Kamp's grand slam. Trailing 4-2, Rigg Mahurin led off the sixth with a triple to center. Wyatt Mathies was hit by a pitch, putting runners on the corners. Henry Thorpe's bunt single plated a run. Another bunt - this time a sacrifice by Gavin Neal - moved both runners into scoring position. A walk to Jace Jaques loaded the bases with one out. The Dragons quickly took the lead. Adam Rickey drove in the tying run with an infield single. The go-ahead run came home when Nic Deering reached on an error. Jacob Morris followed by hitting a grounder to third. The Cougars' throw home was late, plating another run. On the next pitch, Kamp cleared the bases with a long line-drive homer to left, the Dragons' second grand slam in as many days, breaking open a 10-4 lead. Michael Thorpe then nailed the game down by throwing a perfect seventh. The Dragons had to battle from behind on multiple occasions. G-C scored in the top of the first, but NP answered when Deering singled and scored on a wild pitch. G-C again took the lead in the third, but the Dragons again answered in the bottom of the frame as Deering walked and scored on a two-base throwing error to tie the game at 2-2. G-C re-took the lead in the fourth with two run-scoring singles to go up 4-2. The Dragons left runners on base in the bottom of both the fourth and fifth before seizing control in the sixth. Michael Thorpe earned the pitching win, allowing five hits, four runs and fanning 11 in a complete game. The Dragons made the most of their five hits. Kamp was 1-for-4 with a grans slam and five RBI. Rickey was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Deering was 1-for-3 with three runs and an RBI. Mahurin was 1-for-4 with a triple and a run. Henry Thorpe was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. The teams complete their two-game series Wednesday at Greenfield-Central.