Baseball
The Italy Eagledogs blasted Whitney out of the park 18-1 relying on the strong arm of Freshman Chase Hamilton who was impressive on the mound. Hamilton’s not a one trick pony, however, he’s more like a multitasking mustang as he also hit for two homeruns during the route.

Justin Wood, an 8th grader, also hammered a homerun against a hapless Whitney team as he continues with his season long, high level of play.

After a sluggish start by the defense, Italy was still able to keep the clamps on as Zain Byers had his best game at 2nd base scooping several grounders and throwing to his 1st basemen Bailey Walton and Eric Carson for the outs.

Eric Carson and Jacob Essary set the tone offensively with their speed and ability to make quick time around the bases. Overall, the Eagledogs have been consistent swinging the bat and keep themselves in position to claim 2nd Place in the division.

A couple of days later, Italy had a rematch with the only undefeated team in the division, Itasca. The game was a pitching duel between Chase Hamilton and Eric Evans, a Milford product who plays on the Itasca team.

In the first meeting between the two teams, Italy had a slight lead before Itasca took last bat and stole the win 15-9 in Italy. The same scenario almost played out again in Hillsboro with Italy having a 6-4 edge as Itasca took their final swings once again.

A tiring and drenched Chase Hamilton was a warrior throwing 94 pitches to help Italy force a 6-6 tie with the undefeated Itasca team. The effort keeps Italy’s hopes alive for a 2nd place finish this season.

Softball
The Italy Pink Panthers looked impressive and I’m not just talking about their flashy uniforms and knee high spirit socks. These young ladies can hit homers, catch pop-ups and run like the wind, while never messing up their hair.

The Italy Pink Panthers gave it all they had against a talented Milford group of girls. At first, it looked as though Milford would run away with the game but a late rally by the Pink Panthers closed the gap.

Milford held on for the win 14-12 as time expired during Italy’s new found momentum. However, even in defeat, the Italy Pink Panthers were cute as they could be!