Maxwell shuts out Durham

Zach Troughton tossed a shutout and Maxwell High handed Durham High its first loss of the season 9-0 during a break in the rain Friday in Maxwell.

Troughton got stronger as the game went on, fanning four batters in the final two innings to finish with eight strikeouts, while allowing just three hits.

Steven Powell got the Panthers' (5-1) offense going in the first inning by driving in Bryce Perry with a single. Powell drove in Brett Cabral in the third inning and Blake Vierra crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Riley deWit for a 3-0 lead.

In the middle innings Troughton relied on the defense of deWit, Vierra, David Lee and Trent Mathis to stifle the Trojan (6-1) offense, according to Maxwell coach Nate Manor.

Mathis and Lee teamed up for a run in the fourth when Mathis walked and Lee followed up with a double. That tandem did it again in the fifth inning when Lee drove Mathis in with another two-bagger.

Laine LaGrande hit a 2-run opposite field single in the fifth to give Maxwell a 7-0 lead. Cabral and Perry used some nifty base-running to score twice in the sixth inning to close out the scoring.

"The offense came alive real well for us, we executed on offense with bunts, steals, sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies and played some great small ball. But I give most of the credit to the defense for keeping the momentum of our offense, the defense was outstanding by making the plays that needed to be made," Manor said.