Now they hope to build from that as the season progresses.
Harrison collected 14 hits and Carson Journagan threw a complete game to lift the Goblins to a 12-3 win against Nixa as part of a doubleheader for the Red and Blue Tournament at Nixa.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our kids right now,” Harrison coach Greg Crow said. “From where we started the season to where we are now… it’s just tremendous. I tip my cap to them for working. We’ve got a long ways to go, but for as young as we are, that’s a big win for us.”
With a combined seven freshmen and sophomores in its starting lineup, Harrison (4-6) lost its first five games of the season.
But the Goblins have made strides since then.
“It’s a big confidence booster for us because we’re a really young team,” Journagan said. “Now we know we can compete with older teams. I think it’s a big turning point for us.”
Journagan allowed two earned runs and five hits in seven innings. The sophomore right-hander didn’t issue a walk and struck out one, while pitching around two Harrison errors.
“I couldn’t be happier for him,” Crow said. “He was really good for us as a freshman, and he’s just now getting into shape out of basketball season. He’s a strike thrower and he competes. He’s going to give you everything he’s got, every time out there.”
Harrison’s second game of the day was significantly different than its opener. The Goblins suffered an 11-0 loss in five innings to Kearney in Game 1 before bouncing back in the nightcap.
“We kind of closed that door after it was over,” said Quinn Cherry, one of two seniors on Harrison’s roster. “It’s a new race, it’s a new game. We just went out there and tried to win every inning.”
In the first game of the day, Nixa (3-5) overcame a seven-run deficit to claim a 9-8 win over Kearney, but the Goblins didn’t let the Eagles keep the momentum.
“(Kearney) whipped us, but it was our fault for allowing them to whip us like that,” Crow said. “That’s just something you’ve got to grow from at the end of the day.”
Nixa jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first after an RBI single by Conner Matthews and a Harrison fielding error. The Eagles didn’t get anything going offensively again until the fifth when Brett Hammit delivered an RBI double.
The Goblins took a 4-2 lead after Cherry, a Crowder signee, hit a grand slam to centerfield with one out in the top of the third. Harrison added two runs in the fourth following back-to-back RBI’s by Cherry and Tanner Taylor, and tacked on another run in the sixth on an RBI single by Journagan.
Harrison left nothing to chance in the seventh when the Goblins scored five runs on five hits.
“It’s tremendous for us to be able to go out there and do that today,” Crow said. “We needed that going forward, there’s no question.”
Cherry was 2-for-3 with five runs batted in while Taylor was 4-for-5 with two RBI’s to lead the offen... Click here to read full article
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