CLARKSVILLE, Mo. — Junior catcher Wyatt Branson hit a pair of solo blasts to become the Thunderbirds’ career home run leader in Tuesday night’s Eastern Missouri Conference romp over the Hawks.
Branson smashed the first pitch of the game over the fence in center to tie Zach Lavy — who plays at the University of Missouri — for the record. He then took sole possession of the mark with his solo homer in the top of the second inning to give him eight for his career with the Thunderbirds.
Clopton then chose to walk Branson in his final three at-bats as he finished 2-for-2 and scored three times as North Callaway (4-7, 2-2 EMO) finished with nine hits. Branson is now hitting .467 on the season with a robust .767 slugging percentage.
Sophomore shorstop Coy Danison was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in for the Thunderbirds, who tacked on two runs in the third, broke out for four in the sixth and added two in the seventh. North Callaway benefitted from 11 walks issued by the Hawks and two hit batters.
Junior second baseman-third baseman J.T. Higgins also went 1-for-2 with three walks, three RBI and two runs scored for the Thunderbirds. Junior starter AJ Stubblefield finished 1-for-3 with a walk, sacrifice, one RBI and one run scored.
Stubblefield gave up two unearned runs on six hits in five innings to pick up his first win of the season, improving his record to 1-4. He struck out seven and walked two.
North Callaway (4-2-3) won the junior varsity game 9-2.
The Thunderbirds return to the road for an EMO contest at Elsberry at 5 p.m. today.