Andrew Roach is all smiles as he talks to catcher during his no-hitter against Osceola last Monday afternoon. It was Roach's first start for the Indians. (Photo courtesy Karen Roach) [Click to enlarge]

Even in a week when so many games were rained out with the possibility of even more being called off this week, coach Matt Wright, was extremely upbeat about his warriors performance the last few games.

"Overall it was a very good week," said Wright. "We won all of them and that's six in a row now to make us 8-5."

Marked Tree 11, Osceola 1

On Monday, Andrew Roach made his first start on the mound and came away with his first no-hitter against Osceola in Marked Tree.

"Andrew did a good job with strikes," said Wright. "it was nice to see a young kid do so well his first start. Offensively, we had a solid performance. We didn't mess around and put them away in five."

In those five innings Roach struck out five while giving up one unearned run and three walks.

Richie Tate led the hitting with a 2 for 3 day scoring one run and knocking in two others. Loran Ghant and John Ed Turpin both were 2 for 4 with both scoring once and Turpin knocking in a runner. Roach did outstandingly at the plate as well as on the mound, going 1 for 2 and scoring twice while his brother, John, scored two runs and knocked in an additional one. Clint Hawkins was also 1 for 2 with a run scored and an RBI. Michael Gray finished 1 for 4 with an RBI, Will Johnson scored twice and Josh Dabney once.

Marked Tree 7, Riverside 5

Riverside came to Marked Tree Tuesday and, even though they came on at the end, the Indians held on for the 7-5 victory.

"Michael Gray had a good game," Wright said. "He hit a home run."

The only time the Indians trailed was in the first inning when the Rebels took a 1-0 lead against Hawkins who got the win. Marked Tree came back, however, and scored three runs to never trail again.

The Rebels did pull within one run, 6-5 when they came back in the top of the fourth to score three runs, but John Roach tacked on the last run of the game in the fifth for the final margin, 7-5.

Hawkins struck out eight while walking one and giving up four earned runs.

Andrew Roach led the hitting going 2 for 3. Hawkins, Dabney and Turpin were all 2 for 4 with Hawkins knocking in two runs and Dabney one while Turpin scoring one. Johnson and Gray both finished at 1 for 3, Gray hitting a homer in the second inning for a runs scored while knocking in two on the play. Ghant finished the game with two runs scored.

Marked Tree 10, CRA 2

Crowley's Ridge Academy came to town Friday and had to face Ghant who proceeded to strike out five while giving up just four hits in the seven inning 10-2 victory.

"Loran pitched well and walked only two," Wright said. "In the first three games last week we only had six walks. Loran also had four stolen bases and Ben did a good job as well."

Turpin and Ben Cariker went 2 for 3 Turpin scoring once and knocking in two while Cariker had a double and a triple. Tate and Dabney were 1 for 3 with Dabney scoring twice, Tate once and knocking in three runs. Hawkins had a 1 for 2 day with two runs and two RBIs. Gray and Ghant had two runs each, Ghant also stealing four bases.

Marked Tree 10, Midland 6

Saturday, the Indians traveled to Batesville to take part in the Pioneer Classic and were matched up against Midland to open their play.

"We had a great performance in the against Midland," said Wright. "Everyone got hits. Richie pitched good in 6 1/3 innings. But we had a 10-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh and they came back to score five runs and get back into the game."

Tate had 10 Ks while walking five and giving up three earned runs.

The Indians were leading 4-1 when Turpin slammed a three run homer out of the park to start the six run seventh. As Wright indicated, though, CRA made a recovery in the bottom of the last inning which the Indians had to rise up and quell to preserve the victory.

Turpin led the hitting with two hits, two runs scored and four RBIs while Ghant had identical numbers, but with only three runs batted in. John Roach was also 2 for four with one run scored. Hawkins was 2 for 3 and Gray was 2 for 5 both with a run and an RBI each. Tate, Dabney and Johnson all were 1 for 4, Dabney scoring twice and both Johnson and Tate once each. Dabney and Johnson also had an RBI. Andrew Roach had a hit in two at-bats.

"Offensively we don't have a weak area," concluded Wright. "Our pitching has been superb when it comes to giving up walks. In the last six games we've only given up 13. That's phenomenal for high school baseball.

"We got off to a slow start due to the inexperience, but we're starting to play out of that. This team has a lot of character. We just need to keep up the intensity and focus. That's our biggest problem is getting a big lead and then losing our focus.

"This group of kids is carrying a load, though. In the past couple of years, with the stars we had then, they were just thought of role players. But they're showing that they are a lot more than that. They want to play and get better and I'll tell you, this the most fun I've had coaching a group of kids in a long time."