From Chris Brooks - Hendersonville Star News

GALLATIN – The Hendersonville and Gallatin prep baseball teams finally got their first meeting in after waiting four days because of bad weather.

The layoff didn't stop the visiting Commandos from keeping their District 9-AAA North Division record spotless as they never trailed in a 6-1 victory over Gallatin at Municipal Park's David Alexander Field on Friday evening.

Hendersonville (3-0 in the District 9-AAA North Division) struck quickly, scoring two runs in each of the first two innings. That was more than enough run support for a trio of Commando pitchers.

"We've been working all year on continuously scoring from the first inning to the seventh inning," senior leftfielder Drew Richard said. "We haven't been able to do that very well, but we put it together tonight."

Richard helped the Commandos take a first-inning lead by bunting for a base hit, stealing second base and scoring on junior Grant Williams' double to leftfield.

"I've been working on bunting for a hit all year," Richard said. "I feel like I've got some pretty good speed, so laying that down in the first inning was a momentum-shifter."

Hendersonville head coach Mike Hendrix added, "We've been challenging them. We've kind of gotten away from things we do. We've been challenging them all week ... 'when you go to the plate, what can you do to help this team win? Do you have to bunt? Do you have to hit-and-run or do something else?' We've really been working on that."

Senior Austin Brown singled to rightfield, driving in Williams for a 2-0 lead before junior starting pitcher Will Wacaser even threw a pitch.

Wacaser did give up a run early as Gallatin sophomore centerfielder Jordan Mason hit his second home run of the season – a solo shot to right-centerfield – to lead off the bottom of the first inning.

"It was a tremendous shot," Gallatin head coach Mark Wilson said of Mason's home run. "But (Hendersonville's) got a lot of seniors. When you play a senior-laden team, they're experienced, and they're not going to panic on a home run like that."

It cut Hendersonville's lead in half, but from there, hits were hard to come by for the Green Wave. Gallatin (5-15, 0-3) only managed two base hits the rest of the way, with juniors James Rockwell and Hayden Alexander providing those.

"All you need is a spark in high-school baseball," Wilson said. "And when you don't get it, you're continuing to look for someone to hit a bomb, and you can't do that against good teams. You've got to get a little bit at a time."

The Commandos added to their lead in the second inning, with back-to-back singles from senior Connor Fischer and Richard driving in junior Jon Swindle and Fischer, respectively, for a 4-1 lead.

"We don't have a lot of people that can hit the ball out of the ballpark," Hendrix said. "We have to scratch and hunt and do whatever we can, whether it's stealing a base or bunt to get a run."

Richard finished with three hits in four at-bats and drove in two runs, including a fourth-inning single that scored Justin Long for a 5-1 lead.

"I feel pretty confident (at the plate) right now," Richard said. "I'm seeing the ball well right now. (Gallatin) had some good pitchers on the mound. I felt like I could see it really well."

Williams relieved Wacaser – an Austin Peay State University commitment – to begin the third inning and pitched two innings of scoreless relief, striking out four hitters in his stint on the mound. Both hurlers were on a low pitch count as each is expected to pitch against Beech on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We knew when we didn't play (Thursday) – and we have Beech coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday – that we were going to split Will and Grant, and I had set a pitch limit for 40-45 pitches," Hendrix said. "I think we got both of them out of there around 33-35, so that's like throwing a bullpen session. Hopefully, they'll be ready to come back (against Beech)."

Sophomore right-hander Andrew Dorris earned a three-inning save, his third of the season. Dorris retired all nine hitters that he faced.

"Coach Hendrix has a stable full of pitchers," Wilson said. "When you can bring in a junior and a sophomore in that throws like they do, the future looks really, really bright."

Commando senior first baseman Ben Smith capped the scoring with a solo home run down the rightfield line in the seventh inning.

"The last home run ... hats off to (Smith)," Wilson said. "He hit a bomb."

Gallatin made two errors, ultimately costing the Green Wave three runs while junior starting pitcher Billy Campbell was on the mound in his four innings of work.

"It gets back to this ... when you play a quality team, you can't throw the ball around and make errors," Wilson said. "And you have to continue to hit the ball. If we don't do those two things, it ends up 6-1."

Both teams were anxious to get back on the field after four consecutive days of rainouts.

"No. 1, at this time of year, you get sick of being inside the indoor facility," Hendrix said. "But you've got do what you've got to do. If they're going to get better and we're going to do what we're trying to do, which our first goal is to make it to the regional tournament, we have to work at it."

The Commandos' home-and-home series against Beech could determine the division title, though Hendersonville still has a make-up game against visiting Gallatin on Monday. The division winner earns home-field advantage in their half of the bracket in the District 9-AAA Tournament, which is slated to begin on May 2.

"They're going to be real big," Hendrix said. "Beech has got a good club. They're going to come out ready to play. I just hope our guys are going to come out ready to play."

Gallatin was slated to host Portland on Monday and travel to face the Panthers on Tuesday evening, and the Green Wave are scheduled to host Hume-Fogg on Thursday evening at 7.