Indians reach district semi-final

The Jackson Indians baseball team defeated the Northwest (Cedar Hill) Lions 12-1 in the Class 6 District 1 Tournament on Wednesday at Jackson Stadium.

Northwest struck in the opening inning with a sacrifice fly to bring in a run and take an early 1-0 lead. The Lions' joy was cut short by a five-run bottom-of-the-first response from the Indians for a lead Jackson never looked back from.

Jackson loaded the bases via a walk, a hit batter and a single before Owen Osborne brought in two with an RBI single and reached second on a throwing error. Peyton Kight brought in two more with a triple before scoring himself on a wild pitch.

The Indians loaded the bases in the second and Jaiden Glency drew a walk to bring in a run. Drake Weber joined the hit parade with a base-clearing triple down the right-field line before eventually scoring on a wild pitch.

Jackson head coach Josh Roach said he told the team this is how they needed to come out and they did just what was asked.

“Well, that was the way I hoped we’d come out and we did. We hit the ball well offensively,” Roach said. “We’ve come out a little slow and maybe a little flat a few times this year, but we came out ready to roll today. The hitters hit the ball well and it seemed like everybody in the lineup was barreling the baseball.”

Jackson scored two more in the fourth with another deep shot by Kight for a double before reaching home on an error by Northwest’s shortstop. Adrian Fox got the win for the Indians, the senior went all five innings with seven strikeouts, one hit and one earned run.

Roach said Fox was a huge part of the team getting the win.

“He's had a really good season for us. He’s been very consistent and we knew if he was going to be around the strike zone he was going to have success and it was exactly what he did,” Roach said. “He threw a lot of strikes and only had a couple of little hiccups, hit a guy, walked a couple but he pitched well and we’re proud of him.”

Jackson will face Fox High School on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Lindbergh High School in the Class 6 District 1 semi-final.