New Palestine High School

The New Palestine baseball team jumped ahead early and got a stellar relief pitching performance from Jacob Morris Wednesday in a 6-2 victory over Rushville to open sectional play. The Dragons (21-3) advance to face Indian Creek in Saturday's 3 p.m. sectional semifinal at NPHS. Gavin Neal and Jackson Kamp both homered for the Dragons, who never trailed in the contest. Neal hit a solo shot in the top of the first to put the Dragons up 1-0. In the second, Kingston Hedges hit a leadoff double and scored on Liam Atkinson's RBI groundout. Rushville answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Dragons came right back in the top of the third. Rigg Mahurin was hit by a pitch and Neal walked. Morris lined a single to right to plate a run, and a passed ball brought home Neal to put the Dragons up 4-1. Rushville scored a run on back-to-back hits in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 4-2. Morris then came on to relieve starter Holden Hughes and was virtually unhittable. He struck out the first nine batters he faced and fanned 10 total in four perfect innings to nail the game down. The Dragons added two runs in the seventh, as Morris drew a one-out walk and Kamp blasted a pitch over the leftfield fence for his sixth homer of the year. The Dragons were held to four hits. Kamp was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer. Neal was 1-for-2 with two runs and a solo homer. Morris was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Hedges was 1-for-3 with a double and a run. Hughes pitched three innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs, fanning two, before yielding to Morris (5-1), who earned the win. The Dragons outhit Rushville 4-3.