Introduction 

Jackson Heights and Horton enter the night at the bottom of the NEKL looking to get their wheels rolling weeks before regionals. The Cobras enter the night 1-7 in NEKL play and 1-9 overall. The Chargers step into the day 0-10 in league play and 2-10 overall. Both teams look for a chance to be competitive in the bottom half of the NEKL league still entering the second half of the season. 

Game One (Called after five Innings) - Jackson Heights Vs Horton (17-4)

In game one Horton took an early 2-0 run lead against the Cobras with Dalton Noice and Cooper Wischropp scoring in the runs. Wischropp also started the night on the mound for the Chargers, but was taken out for Alecle Whiteshield by the fourth inning after giving up eleven runs off many hits and a couple pitching mistakes. Drake Mellies for the Cobras had the hot bat for the snakes as he finished the first game with two doubles, two RBIs, two hits, and three runs scored himself. Jackson Heights got hot in the third and fourth inning; Scoring five in the third and twelve in the fifth. Horton managed to keep the game going by replying with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, making it a 4-17 game. However their efforts weren’t enough as the game was called after the fifth inning with the ten-after-five run rule enforced. The Cobras went through three pitching changes in the first game going in this order: Senior Micheal Cornelison, sophmore Carter Will, junior Dillon Childs. 

Game Two (Called after five Innings) - Jackson Heights Vs Horton (20-6)

In the second game both lead offs scored the only runs for each team in the first inning; Drake Mellies scoring for the Cobras and Gannon Becker scoring for the Chargers. The Cobras in game two went through five pitchers: Junior Kade Holiday, junior Dillon Childs, freshman Hayden Shultejans, sophomore Ian Allen, and junior Josh Smith. Coach Melvin made this decision because he wanted to keep everyone’s pitch count low as the boys had two more doubleheaders to play this week. Drake Mellies had the highlight of the second game with a home run slammed over towards the left field fence, which drove in himself and sophomore Jace Doyle. The Cobras scored twenty runs off fourteen hits in game two which secured their biggest lead win of the year 20-6 over the Chargers. 

Summary

Jackson Heights took two big wins in the sweep over Horton to get their wheels turning again. When I talked to the Head Coach of the Cobras, Jeremy Melvin, in the post-game wrap up on the Cobra Channel, he said it’s about getting the team ready for regionals, and he’s ready to compete. Jackson Heights will move up to 3-9 on the year and 3-7 in the NEKL. Horton will drop to 0-12 in the North-East Kansas League and 2-12 overall. Jackson Heights will play Pleasant Ridge on Wednesday in a doubleheader and Maur Hill in a doubleheader on Thursday. 

Cobra Channel

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