The Carmi-White County Bulldogs earned their second Black Diamond Conference win of the season on Thursday, holding off a late rally to defeat Hamilton County on the road by a final score of 9-7.
After two scoreless innings, the Bulldogs finally broke through in the top of the 3rd. Hayden Sauls lined an RBI double to left field, scoring Merick Millhorn to give Carmi a 1-0 advantage. Three batters later, Jaxon Bradshaw came through with a two-run double that brought home Sauls and Maxon O’Daniel as the Bulldogs extended the lead to 3-0.
Hamilton County answered back with one run in the 4th inning and three more in the 5th to take its first lead of the day at 4-3.
The Bulldogs responded in the 6th inning when Millhorn delivered a two-run single, scoring Abe Girten and Jayse Digman to put Carmi back in front 6-4.
Carmi added insurance in the 7th inning. Colton Marvin scored on a Hamilton County error to make it 7-4 before Millhorn added to his big day with another RBI single, driving in Girten and Digman to push the Bulldog lead to 9-4.
The Foxes threatened in the bottom of the 7th, loading the bases with one out and scoring three runs on a walk and an RBI single, but the Bulldogs retired the next two batters to secure the 9-7 victory.
Millhorn earned the win on the mound, pitching five innings while allowing four runs on four hits and striking out 12 batters.
At the plate, Millhorn finished 2-for-3 with four RBI. Sauls added an RBI, while Evan Cronin, Bradshaw, and Digman each recorded hits in the win.