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The Drew Central Pirates opened the 2026 baseball season on Monday night with a home contest, hosting the Hermitage Hermits.
Hunter Griffin would get the call to be the opening day pitcher for the Pirates.
Griffin would start the contest by striking out the side for the first three outs of the contest.
Cade Smith led off for the Pirates reaching on a single followed by a single by Colton Reed that scored Smith for the first run of the contest.
After the first out of the inning, the Pirates would run off a pair of singles Jordan Jones and Braylin Moore that scored Reed.
Jones would score on an error on a fly ball hit by Mason Maggard.
Aiden Jordan would replace Moore on the bases and would score along with Maggard on a single by Jaggar Hays for a 5-0 lead.
Griffin would remain strong on the mound in the top of the second, striking out the side for six consecutive strikeouts.
The Pirates added a run in the bottom of the second inning after a single by Griffin scored Smith to go up 6-0.
Hermitage would get on the board in the top of the fifth inning with a single run.
Drew Central added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pirates would complete the “run-ruled” contest after scoring three runs in the inning to go up by 10 runs after four innings of play for the 11-1 win.
Hunter Griffin would get the win, pitching two innings of no-hit ball while striking out all six batters faced.
Cade Smith would pitch two innings allowing one run on one hit, striking out five. JOnes would also get two innings and five strikeouts.
Drew Central returns Monday hosting Hamburg at 4:30 pm.
