Chatt-a-Hoots Take Exhibition Opener Over Waleska Behind 14 Team Strikeouts

Columbus, GA - The Columbus Chatt-a-Hoots secured an exhibition win over the Waleska Wild Things on Friday night by a score of 8-3.

Waleska opened the scoring with a Jo Jo Jackson sacrifice fly to center field that scored leadoff man Branson Bowling for a 1-0 lead. Columbus would respond in spades in the bottom half though putting the first 9 men on base (though 2 fielder's choice created outs) and responded with 5 runs of their own to take the lead.

The Wild Things had an answer for the Hoots but it wasn't enough to re-claim the lead. Designated Hitter Brent Blomquist secured an RBI single to make it 5-2, and Ben Olson scored on a wild pitch later in the inning to make it 5-3.

The Chatt-a-Hoots would take an inning and then extend their lead in the bottom of the third as shortstop Jesse Donohoe took a ball deep to right-center on the first pitch of the at-bat with a man on to make it 7-3. The next man up, Charles Crawford found his way around the diamond through a combination of an error to put him on base, and then steals and passed balls to eventually score the games final run.

From the third inning on the 8-3 scoreline held as both the Hoots and the Wild Things were rotating pitchers consistently throughout the night. Trent Hodgdon had the line of the night with five strikeouts in two innings pitched. The Chatt-a-Hoots pitchers in total registered 14 strikeouts in this game.

Left-hander Daniel Holley gets credit for the win with a 2.0 inning night with 3 strikeouts. Jacob Tate takes the loss, lasting only 0.1 innings giving up 5 earned runs on 3 hits.

The Chatt-a-Hoots and Wild Things conclude the exhibition season against each other with a 3:00 PM first pitch at Golden Park on Saturday. The Chatt-a-Hoots radio network starts up with pregame coverage at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon.