Baseball

EG Beats Jefferson-Scranton in Season Opener, 4-2

East Greene made it a repeat in their head-to-head confrontation with Jefferson-Scranton last night in Jefferson, beating the Rams 4-2, to win their season opener.

It was a repeat of last year's matchup when EG dropped the Rams 11-7, which gives the Hawks bragging rights as the county's best baseball team two years in a row. But it doesn't get much easier for the Hawks, as they take their 1-0 record into tonight's matchup against Grandview Park Baptist in Des Moines. The Defenders went 21-11 last year and advanced to the state tournament. Last year, the Hawks dropped a close 3-1 game to GVP.

The Hawks' home and conference opener is Monday night against Earlham, then they travel to Van Meter on Tuesday and Des Moines Christian on Thursday, taking on two of the four teams that tied for West Central Conference championship last year. J-S (0-1) hosts Woodward-Granger Friday in a JV/varsity doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m.

Scoreboard
West Central Conference teams (non-conference games):
Wednesday
Adair Casey 8, Glidden-Ralston 1
Tuesday
Creston at Guthrie Center, ppd. to May 27
Ogden at Coon Rapids-Bayard, ppd.
Monday
Van Meter 14, Winterset 4 (5 innings)
Area teams:
Wednesday
Humboldt at Southeast Webster-Grand, ppd.
Norwalk 6, Perry 1
Ogden 9, Prairie Valley 6

EYE ON GJ SAYS: This is a great start for the Hawks and it looks to be another strong year for the West Central Conference, as Van Meter has beaten Class 3A Winterset and now EG downs Jefferson-Scranton, one of the largest 2A schools with an enrollment of 290 (grades 9-11) where the cutoff between 3A and 2A schools is right around 300. East Greene has picked up players from Paton-Churdan this summer in baseball and softball, but its combined enrollment with PC (93 + 33) keeps it in the middle range of Class 1A enrollments at 126. Playing for the Hawks this year from PC are junior Jordan Burrell and sophomore Chris Anderson.