Athens had lost three straight on the road, but on Thursday they dropped down to 11-8 to make it four. They lost 12-2 to the Van Vandals. Unfortunately, that's the second time they've come up short against the Vandals this season, as they also lost their prior matchup 12-3 on Tuesday.
As for Van, the win (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 14-13-1. Considering they have won nine matchups by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
For Van's part, they got a great performance from Nathan Vance as he pitched five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. The Vandals are 4-1 when Vance allows two or fewer earned runs, but 10-12-1 otherwise.
On the hitting side, Hudson Adkison and Easton Yarborough did most of the damage at the plate: Adkison went 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI, while Yarborough got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run. Adkison has become a key player for Van: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 7-13-1 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Rawly Hinch, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double.
We've got plenty of inter-district action coming up soon. Athens will take on rival Mabank at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Van is set to challenge their familiar foe Kemp at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
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