Dons rally past Senath-Hornersville to win opener

DONIPHAN — The Doniphan Dons were battle tested as they scratched and clawed to capture their first win of the spring baseball season.

In a hard-fault matchup against the Senath-Hornersville Lions, the Dons escaped with a 5-4 victory and learned a lot about playing through adversity.

“We had to work to get this win because it wasn’t easy,” Doniphan coach Dalton Pennington said. “This (Senath-Hornersville) team did not budge much all game, so we had to will ourselves into scoring position to stay in the fight.”

With the game tied at 4-4 entering the bottom of the seventh, Dons junior Benjamin Killian smashed a bomb out to left field for a triple, then scored the game-winner on a passed ball.

“We definitely put ourselves in a hole early,” Pennington said. “It’s the first game of the year, and everybody’s a little bit rusty, so during a timeout, I tried to get them all calm down, get everybody on the same page because how we started is not how we play ball.

“Luckily, we were able to get out of that rut without giving up any more runs, but overall I’m just happy with how my kids bounced back and played.”

The Lions started rocking early on a double from Madox Belcher down to left field, which advanced two across home plate and a line drive past the middle from freshman Victor Luna for a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning.

After two scoreless innings, the Dons held their composure as they kept the Lions from scoring another run, looking for the right moment to strike. With a few adjustments made before the bottom of the third, the Dons finally got on the scoreboard with a groundball hit from Keaton Kepley to help Maddox Baucom notch the first run for the Dons.

In an attempt to slow down Doniphan’s momentum, the Lions made a few changes to the pinching, but it did not phase the Dons as they continued to bring in multiple runs, closing out the third inning leading 4-3.

However, the Lions managed to even the score 4-4 at the top of the sixth, stting the stage for the exciting finish.

Kepley went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead the Dons in hits and also did well on the mound with six strikeouts. Freshman Garrett Griffin sruck ut two on the hill and also got one hit and one RBI.

Pennington said it felt really good to get a win to start the season, but this game was the test and experience the Dons needed with their young core.

“Anytime you get a win, it’s good, but what I wanted my kids to learn about from last fall was how to battle,” Pennington said. “We start one senior and one junior while the rest are a mix of freshman and sophomores, heavy in the freshman class. We’re really young, and these guys just haven’t really learned how to battle from behind and face adversity.

“It’s really good that we came from behind for this win, and I think we’re getting the adversity thing figured out. Hopefully, we can get out front early in games instead of playing from behind, but overall I think they did a good job battling today.”

The Dons are slated to be back in action at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to host Farmington.