Millington, TN – The Indian Hills Baseball squad opened up its 2026 season with a doubleheader split on Friday afternoon at USA Baseball Stadium in Millington, TN. The Warriors took the season opener 11-6 over Olney Central Community College (IL) before falling to South Suburban College (IL) 11-7 in extra innings.
The Warriors, making their debut under first-year head coach Dru Sebastian, thrived at the plate in both matchups on Friday, scoring at least four runs in three separate frames. Indian Hills has now won five of its last six season openers.
The Warrior offense caught fire from the opening pitch of the new year on Friday against Olney Central as the first three batters reached base before sophomore Jose Lopez (Las Tablas, Panama/Springfield Commonwealth) sent a shot over the right field wall for a grand slam to stake a quick 4-0 edge. The Blue Knights responded with four runs of their own in the top half of the second before the Warriors answered with four more runs in the bottom half of the third thanks to run-scoring knocks from Maverick Scarpella (Thornton, CO/Broomfield), Diego Mendez (Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico/ESCAED), and Callum Donnelly (Bulli, Australia/New Mexico JC).
An RBI single from Kevin Ramos (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Springfield Commonwealth) in the fifth along with two runs in the sixth, including another RBI single from Mendez, tacked on additional run support for the Warriors as Indian Hills secured the season opening victory.
Donnelly finished the opener 3-5 from the leadoff spot while Scarpella, Mendez, and Brody Geist (Arvada, CO/Standley Lake) tallied a pair of hits each to pace the 13-hit attack.
On the bump, sophomore Yuan-Kai Chang (Taipei, Taiwan/Taipei Dai) secured the victory with four innings of action while fellow sophomore Anton Keith (Boulder, CO/Fairview) faced the minimum across three innings of relief work to pick up his first collegiate save.
Game two vs. the Bulldogs saw the Warrior offense stall in the early goings as South Suburban built a commanding 7-1 lead. Entering the bottom half of the sixth trailing by six runs, the Indian Hills bats came to life late in the game. The Warriors plated two runs in the sixth before Geist erased the deficit on one swing of the bat in the bottom of the seventh with a grand slam to deep left field to force extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, the Bulldogs struck first with four runs before holding off the Warriors in the home half to steal the victory.
Geist finished the nightcap 2-3 at the plate with four RBI and a pair of runs scored. Sophomore Boris Rodriguez (San Sebastian, Puerto Rico/ESCAED) tallied three hits and a pair of stolen bases.
Sophomore Connor Griess (Loveland, CO/Loveland) provided a solid outing in his first collegiate appearance with three innings of shutout work, allowing just one hit while striking out five batters.
Indian Hills is back in action Saturday morning to close out the Flag City Classic in Millington with another doubleheader. The Warriors will take on Lincoln Land Community College (IL) at 9:30 AM followed by the finale against Kaskaskia College (IL) at 12:30 PM.
NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW
Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Baseball squad all year long through a number of ways:
- X (formerly Twitter): @IHCCBaseball | @IHCCAthletics
- Facebook: Indian Hills Baseball | Indian Hills Athletics
- Instagram: @IHCCBaseball | @IHCCAthletics
- Youtube: Indian Hills Athletics
- Website: www.indianhillsathletics.com
- Catch up with the history of Indian Hills Baseball with the official Indian Hills Baseball Record Book
- All home games are played at the Pat Daugherty Field on the Indian Hills Centerville campus.
- Admission is free of charge for all home contests.
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills Baseball home and postseason games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
- GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
- Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
- Roku Streaming Device: Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!
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