New Palestine High School

The New Palestine baseball team finished off a two-game sweep of rival Mt. Vernon Wednesday, hitting the road to beat the Marauders 2-1. The victory gave the Dragons an 8-2 overall record and 4-2 in Hoosier Heritage Conference play. It was their first two-game conference sweep of the season after splitting with Yorktown and Shelbyville. Holden Hughes (2-0) earned the start and kept the Marauders off-balance all day. He pitched a complete game, allowing three hits, one earned run and striking out nine. The Dragons left five runners on base in the first three innings before breaking through in the fifth. Ethan Nunnally drew a leadoff walk. Rigg Mahurin followed with a long double to left, plating pinch-runner Max Newkirk with the game's first run. Mahurin then moved to third and scored on Jacob Morris' sacrifice fly. That would be all the offense the Dragons would need. MV had baserunners in each of the first six innings, but Hughes was able to keep the Marauders off the board until the sixth, when back-to-back two-out hits plated a run. Hughes then retired the Marauders in order in the seventh to nail down the win. Hits were at a premium. The Dragons had two - Mahurin's fifth-inning double and Gavin Neal's first-inning single - and MV three. The Dragons are next in action Friday at home against Beech Grove.