Holcomb baseball shuts out Gideon at home

HOLCOMB – The Holcomb baseball team has had a hot start to the season and hasn't allowed a single run in their first two games. Thursday, they shut out Gideon for a 10-0 victory at home.

While the Hornet softball team took on Gideon and Delta C-7 back-to-back on the next field over – which they also dominated – the Hornets' Payton McNabb and Hunter Lawrence took control in the circle and allowed zero runs.

McNabb pitched the first three innings and allowed just two hits on 47 pitches with 34 strikes and seven strikeouts. Lawrence finished the game on the mound and allowed no hits on 30 pitches with 19 strikes and six strikeouts.

Holcomb's Payton McNabb throws a pitch in the first inning of a game against Gideon Thursday, March 23, 2023.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“I thought our seniors hit the ball well,” Holcomb coach Michael Snider said. “Hunter, Barry and Peyton hit the ball pretty hard the whole time. Peyton and Hunter did a great job on the mound for us today.”

“Today was Hunter's first outing in a long time, and it was the first time he went longer like that,” Snider continued. “We're trying to get him more confidence and hopefully he'll see that he can help us out a lot. He did a phenomenal job – he found his curve ball early and threw his fast ball for a strike. Peyton did the same thing and got ahead in counts.”

Holcomb's 10 runs were contributed by seven players – including Payton and Bryce McNabb and Keaton Cunningham with two apiece, in addition to Samuel Jacobs, Jimmie Moody, Christian Lewis and Stephen Bradshaw each scoring one.

“I liked how we hit the ball today,” Snider said. “We hit the ball on the screws several times especially in the first inning. We didn't have anything to show for it, but we were hitting it pretty hard. That's always a positive.”

Gideon, now 0-3 early in the season, was led in the circle by Landon Weaver for three innings, who allowed five hits and six runs on 88 pitches, throwing 47 strikes with four strikeouts and five walks.

He was relieved for the final inning by Hayden Lacewell who allowed one hit and four runs on 54 pitches with three strikeouts and four walks.

The Bulldogs' two hits came from Weaver and Brayden Knapp.

Holcomb's Trey Moody closely makes it back to second base and avoids being tagged out by Gideon's Skylar Hewitt Thursday, March 23, 2023.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Despite winning in consecutive shutouts, Snider remains critical of the missed opportunities in the Hornets' first games.

“Our pitchers threw strikes really well, but we still missed too many signs,” Snider said. “We missed too many opportunities. We had a lot of chances with no outs or one out with a runner on third and we just didn't put the ball in play. And that's got to get better.”

“If you want to be a good team and beat good teams, you have to take advantage of those opportunities,” he continued. “For the most part, we were okay.”

Many of the remaining question marks for Holcomb come down to youth and inexperience, however, and improvement is already being seen.

“For us, we have a lot of young kids and we're looking for them to do big things for us,” Snider said. “In the fall, I felt like their eyes got kind of big and the moment was too much for us. Now I feel like we're calming down a little bit and not letting things escalate on us.”

“We play some really good teams on our schedule, and those games are coming up,” he continued. “I might eat my words, but I just hope we're more comfortable. We look more comfortable and I hope we continue to be more comfortable.”

Next, Holcomb is scheduled to travel to Malden (0-1) Monday at 11 a.m. Gideon is off until Thursday, April 6, when they host Hayti at 4:30 p.m.