Hackworth homers as Indians sink Pirates

Baden Hackworth hit a home run in the third inning to lead the Jackson Indians to an 8-4 win on the road against the Perryville Pirates on Wednesday in Perryville.

Jackson (28-6) has extended its winning streak to 12 games and has added to its record-high win total on the season.

Hackworth, a St. Louis commit, now has seven home runs on the season, which ties for the Jackson single-season home run record. He will have the opportunity to break the record by the end of the regular season on Thursday when Jackson travels to Class 2 juggernaut Greenville at 4 p.m.

"He's got tremendous power," Jackson head coach Josh Roach said. "He's been kind of a little bit of funk lately at the plate. But if he gets a good barrel on him, he's got a huge amount of power to right centerfield and that's where he hit that ball today. So he's special talent out there."

Hackworth's homer highlighted a six-run third inning for the Indians. Henley Parker hit an RBI single and Cooper Rhodes and Quinton Borders hit RBI doubles to put the Indians in a comfortable 7-1 position.

Landon Watkins drove in the first run of the game with a single in the second inning, and Rhodes drove in the last run for Jackson with a sac fly in the fourth inning.

Perryville scored its first run of the game in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk by Eli Derickson. Troy O’Keefe went 2-for-4 to lead the Pirates.

Perryville made the game close with a run in the fifth inning and sixth inning. Caleb Triller drove Barrett Wheeler home on a double in the fifth inning and O'Keefe grounded in a fielder's choice in the sixth to score Waylon Huber.

Tyler Jannin started the game for the Pirates, lasting five innings, allowing eight hits and eight runs with two strikeouts. Evan Hayden threw two innings out of the bullpen to finish the game.

Kaden Kendle earned the win for Jackson. The righty went three innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out three. Clayton Ernst, Aiden Shaver, and Adrian Fox all put in work in relief out of the bullpen.

Perryville concludes the regular season with an 8-17 record, which doubles last season's win total. The Pirates take on Herculaneum in the opening round of the Class 4 District 2 Tournament on Saturday at noon in Ste Genevieve. They won the previous matchup 6-5 on May 4.