The Hixson Wildcats scored a couple of first-inning runs against East Hamilton Wednesday night at Chattanooga State, but it didn't seem to bother Chris Moore very much.
The first run scored on an RBI-single by Stephen Leech while the second scored on a fielder's choice.
As it turned out, that one hit and those two runs were all the junior right-hander allowed as the Hurricanes rallied to take a 12-2 victory in the District 6-AA contest.
A five-run second inning gave the Hurricanes the lead while a six-run fifth sealed the deal as East Hamilton improved to 13-3 overall and 6-1 in 6-AA.
"The way things started was a cause for concern, but I'm pleased with the way we responded," said winning coach Steve Garland.
"Brandon Williams made some nice plays at short after a shaky start, but I feel like we have a solid team and a lot of people contributed.
"Chris didn't have his best stuff, but he competed and that's all we were looking for. It wasn't his 'A' game, but I was proud of his effort," the veteran coach praised his pitcher, who is now 1-1 with a couple of no-decisions.
"It was refreshing to see us with a little killer instinct there at the end. We have a tendency to get a nice lead and not finish, but that wasn't the case tonight," Garland concluded.
Eight Hurricanes had at least one hit.
Jason McElvain, the number-nine man in the lineup, was the leader with three hits, including a big two-run single in the fifth.
Patrick Parris had a single to lead off the second inning and he added a double deep into the leftfield corner in the third.
He also reached when he got hit by a pitch and scored three times.
Logan Jackson's RBI-double in the fifth was the only other extra-base hit for East Hamilton while second baseman Charles Chavis bounced an RBI-single up the middle to end the game.
Brandon Williams, Nick Ungos, Josh Day and Moore had the other four hits and all were singles.
Moore went the distance and only allowed the one hit and two runs in the first. Both runs were unearned as the Hurricanes committed two errors during that inning.
Moore also struck out two and walked four.
Hixson falls to 5-10 overall and 0-4 in 6-AA.
Wildcat coach Ted Mulder is looking forward to the day when something good happens for his young team.
"It's all mental right now. It's also that youthful stuff," he began his post-game comments.
"We started out well and we looked halfway decent for the most part, but we didn't execute in key situations.
"We missed signs and we failed to cover in a couple of situations. We had the one bad inning early, but managed to get through it.
"I'm proud of our pitcher Walker Norris. His assignment was to go out and pound the mitt. That's exactly what he did.
"Unfortunately, the other eight players didn't do their job. Everyone isn't on the same page right now, but we'll keep working," Mulder nodded.
Hixson will be a home Thursday for a non-district game with Boyd-Buchanan.
East Hamilton will play Hamilton Heights on Thursday afternoon at the Ooltewah Youth Association field on Little Debbie Parkway.
That's the first game in the Varsity Team Sports Hurricane Classic. Other teams include Silverdale, Grace and Sale Creek.
HIXSON 200 00 -- 2 1 3
EAST HAMILTON 051 06 -- 12 11 3
Norris, Jones (5) and Gilkey; Moore and Day.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)