Young Harris Breaks Out the Brooms

ROME, GA — The Mountain Lions brought the heat—and the brooms—to Shorter University this weekend, delivering a convincing three-game sweep over the Hawks in Conference Carolinas play. Over the course of the series, Young Harris outscored Shorter 24-8, extending their dominance as the postseason looms.

With the sweep, Young Harris improves to 34-12 on the season, including a strong 20-7 mark in conference play. Shorter, meanwhile, drops to 24-19 overall and 12-15 in the league.

Let’s break it down, game by game:

Game 1: Mountain Lions Mash Their Way to 11-5 Win

Young Harris wasted no time setting the tone. Luke Hatcher crushed a three-run homer in the top of the first, and Jack Enrico tacked on a sac fly to make it 4-0 early. From there, it was the Mountain Lions’ offense in full throttle.

Mark Castle drove in two with a single in the third, and Hatcher didn’t let up—smashing his second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the fourth, to stretch the lead to 8-1.

Shorter tried to claw back, but the long ball was too much. Kade Smallwood added a two-run blast in the fifth and an RBI single in the ninth for good measure.

On the mound, Zach Hart delivered a gem—striking out eight over 7.2 innings en route to the win.

Game 2: Ritchie Dials In, YHC Rolls 6-1

Game two saw a masterclass from Young Harris starter Austin Ritchie, who went the distance in a seven-inning complete game, fanning nine and giving up just one run.

The Mountain Lions capitalized on a Shorter error in the first to take an early lead, then kept piling it on. Jonny Smith and Mark Castle added RBI knocks in the third, and the lead swelled to 6-0 by the sixth thanks to a Jack Enrico solo homer and a Drew Bray RBI single.

Shorter managed just one run in response, but was unable to solve Ritchie’s rhythm.

Game 3: Young Harris Closes It Out, 7-2

With the sweep in sight, Young Harris finished the job on Sunday behind another strong pitching performance—this time from Graham Edwards, who struck out six and went 8.1 innings, allowing just two runs.

Jack Enrico got things rolling with an RBI double in the second, but Shorter’s Griffin Clark answered with a solo shot to tie things up. That didn’t last long—Carlos Martans launched a two-run homer in the fourth, and Jeremy Begora put the nail in the coffin with a two-run blast in the sixth and a two-RBI single in the seventh to seal the deal.

Up Next:

The Mountain Lions look to keep the momentum rolling as they head to Tusculum University for a midweek clash on Wednesday, April 23.