No. 6 Blazers Sweet as Honey in Win over Suns to Take Series

HIGHLIGHTS

IRVING, Texas – Jayden Honey pitched a gem, and Dallas College North Lake's sixth-ranked baseball team beat Dallas College Cedar Valley 10-0 Thursday to secure the series.

The Blazers (22-21, 12-8 Dallas Athletic Conference) had 16 hits for the second straight day to win the conference series, improving to 5-0 against the Suns (14-26, 3-17) this season. Game 3 is set for 12 p.m. Friday at North Lake.

"We pride ourselves on being really consistent," Blazers first-year assistant coach Jimmy Martin said.

North Lake was consistent all right. The Blazers scored in each of the third through seventh innings, using multiple hits in four straight to end the game in a run-rule victory. It was the Blazers' fifth run-rule win of the season and their fourth in seven innings.

Honey (2-1) went six innings, allowing six hits and one walk, and struck out three in his longest and best outing as a Blazer.

"Jayden Honey, he's a grinder. He works hard," Martin said. "You could just tell by his demeanor, walking into this game, that it was going to be a good day on that side."

Honey set down five straight batters in the fourth and fifth innings, used a double play ball to end the first, and had Suns leadoff hitter Redon Garcia, trying to stretch a double into more, cut down on at third on a relay throw from Blazers second baseman Jesse Orozco in the sixth. After singles by Easton Bettcher and Julio Cuotto, Honey retired the last batter he faced to leave with a six-run lead.

The Blazers scored three more in the bottom half of the sixth on a leadoff single by Ayden Austin, a double by Salvador De La Garza, a two-run single by Orozco and an RBI double by Cyler Moore. They put it away in the seventh on De La Garza's RBI single to left-center to score Aidan Huante.

Moore was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. De La Garza went 3 for 5 with two RBI. Orozco was 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI. Jackson Franks had two hits, and drove in two runs in four at-bats. Austin was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Bear Herak singled, doubled and walked twice.

Bettcher was 3 for 3.

North Lake closer Drake Pineda worked a perfect seventh.

Moore's two-out, two-run double in the third spotted the Blazers their first lead. North Lake tacked on three more in the fourth on run-scoring singles by Franks Austin and De La Garza. Franks drove in his second run an inning later after Issac Garcia singled up the middle, and scored three at-bats later after North Lake loaded the bases. 

The Blazers extended their winning streak to six over the Suns, dating back to last year's postseason South Central District Tournament-opening win.

"We're just staying mentally grounded, always looking for the next AB," Martin said, "overcoming that adversity, that failure if we have that. They're always coming to talk to me, making smaller adjustments every single inning. What could they do better, just moving forward."