GC Baseball: Kinkade leads Tiger pitchers in two impressive wins to start season
Feb. 26—Corsicana's Tigers opened their 2021 baseball season with a pair of victories in the Duncanville Tournament Thursday as they followed the Golden Rule of baseball to beat Irving MacArthur and North Forney on the first day of the tournament.
What are the three most important things about baseball?
Pitching, pitching and pitching.
Bryden Hernandez and Reno Morehouse combined to stop MacArthur in the Tigers' season-opening 7-2 win, and Tiger ace Kolby Kinkade slammed the door on North Forney, throwing a three-hit, complete game shutout in Corsicana's 4-0 victory.
Hernandez pitched three shutout innings, allowing three hits while striking out four. Morehouse pitched two no-hit innings, allowing two unearned runs while striking out two.
Kinkade struck out seven and walked just one to get his first win of the season and get the Tigers off to a 2-0 start. He threw 78 pitches and 58 were strikes.
The Tigers scored a run in the first when Hunter Autrey drove in Miguel Luevano, and Autrey drove in a run in the second. Luevano came through with a two-run double in the Tigers' three-run second inning.
Conner Means led the Tigers at the plate against MacArthur, driving in three runs. Bradley Gruver drove in a run with a safety-squeeze bunt and Autrey drove in a run with a sac fly. Tyler Slaughter, a senior, drove in his first varsity run and Austin Pryor had a double.
"I thought our starting pitching did a real good job," Tiger coach Heath Autrey said of the team's 2-0 start. "Austin Pryor did a really good job at third base, but our defense has to get better.
"We're known for playing good defense and throwing strikes, and we did a better job in the second game. That's what these tournament games are for (to get better). We've got a lot of young players and we'll get better."
