BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Erick Lasseter hit two solo home runs and held the host Santa Fe Raiders to four hits and two runs through five innings in the Union County High School baseball team’s 5-2 win on April 3.
The Rural Class Tigers (11-11) took the lead for good on a Fisher Thomassen RBI in the fourth.
Lasseter, batting second in the order, took a ball in his first at-bat before driving a pitch over the fence in right to put Union up 1-0. In his second at-bat, he needed to see only one pitch in hitting another homer to right, making it a 2-0 game in the top of the third.
In the bottom of the third, the Class 3A Raiders had a runner on with two outs. Santa Fe drew two straight walks before scoring a run on a wild pitch.
Devin Diggs reached on an error to lead off the Tigers’ half of the fourth. Diggs stole second and moved to third on a passed ball before scoring on Thomassen’s ground ball to short with two outs, giving Union a 3-1 lead.
The Tigers scored their final two runs in the seventh on a Trenton Klein ground out and a Diggs double.
Union had just five hits, with Lasseter finishing 2 for 3.
Lasseter struck out five batters in his five innings of work before being relieved by Kendall Carter. Carter gave up two hits and no walks, while striking out two in the final two innings.
The Tigers went 1-1 in their previous two games, beginning with a 5-2 win at Class 4A Baker County on April 1.
Union trailed 1-0 before scoring two runs in the fourth. Klein singled and stole second before scoring on a Diggs double. Diggs later scored on a Carter single.
A three-run fifth included an RBI double by Lasseter and a two-run single by Klein.
Diggs and Klein each batted 2 for 3.
Starting pitcher Kacen Thomassen went five innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk.
Brezdyn Browning pitched the final two innings, giving up one run, three hits and no walks.
On April 2, the Tigers lost 13-4 to visiting West Nassau, which was ranked 13th in Class 3A at the time.
Union trailed 6-0 before scoring a run in the fifth on a single by Lasseter.
Browning and Brugh each drove in a run as part of a three-run sixth.
Brugh finished 2 for 3, while Carter batted 2 for 2 with a double.
The Tigers host Lafayette on Tuesday, April 8, at 7 p.m. and host The Villages on Wednesday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m. Union then hosts West Port on Thursday, April 10, at 6:30 p.m.
