Macario Mendez
NORTH VERNON — Columbus North picked up its first baseball win of the season Tuesday, bouncing back from Monday’s season-opening loss with a 17-7 victory at Jennings County.
Like Monday, the Bull Dogs built a big lead early, only to see the opposition come back. North scored three in the first and four in the second, but the Panthers answered with seven in the bottom of the second to tie it.
The Bull Dogs went ahead with five runs in the fourth, then added one in the sixth and four in the seventh. Daiju Iwaya pitched three shutout innings to pick up the win in relief of Bryson Satterfield.
Macario Mendez went 4 for 4, Iwaya went 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs and Dillon Long went 2 for 3 with a double and five RBIs to lead North’s 15-hit attack. Jack Whaley went 2 for 3 with a double, and Brock Kintner went 2 for 3.
Cooper Lane went 3 for 4 with a double to lead the Panthers, who managed five hits in their season opener.
