New Palestine High School

Carsyn Baker's sixth-inning grand slam Friday punctuated the New Palestine baseball team's 14-0 victory over Connersville. The victory improved the Dragons' record to 15-3. The Dragons pounced early, scoring four runs in the first and adding two more four-run innings in the win. Jacob Morris and Gavin Neal combined on the shutout. Morris allowed one hit in three innings, while Neal allowed three hits in three innings. Each struck out four. The Dragons pounced early. Rigg Mahurin reached on an error to lead off the game, followed by Neal's double. Morris drove in a run with a groundout. After a base hit by Jackson Kamp and a walk to Kingston Hedges loaded the bases, Neal scampered home on a wild pitch and Ethan Nunnally plated Kamp with a single to left. Liam Atkinson followed with another RBI single. The Dragons went quietly in the second and third innings, but added four more in the fourth. Jesse Isaacs led off with a single and moved into scoring position on Eli Whiteside's bunt. Mahurin drove him in with a base it to left. Neal and Morris followed with back-to-back hits to plate another run. The Dragons stole another run with a double-steal, and added another on an error to make it 8-0. The Dragons added another run without a hit in the fifth when Neal drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Isaacs. In the sixth, Max Havel and Holden Hughes walked and Ryan Haines reached on an error, loading the bases for Baker. He launched a 1-1 pitch over the leftfield fence to extend the lead to 13-0 and trigger the mercy rule, which the Dragons nailed down in the bottom of the inning. The Dragons had 10 hits. Neal was 3-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. Mahurin was 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Morris was 1-for-4 with a run and two RBI. Kamp was 1-for-3 with a run. Nunnally was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Atkinson was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Isaacs was 1-for-2 with two runs. Baker was 1-for-1 with a grand slam. The Dragons are next in action Tuesday at Pendleton Heights.