Hackett Catholic Baseball hangs on to beat Paw Paw, 5-4.

Three Irish seniors collaborated for a pair of runs in the first inning and Hackett never lost the lead in a closely contested game at Alumni Field on Wednesday in Kalamazoo.  Joe Carr singled on a 1-1 count with two outs, driving in Brenden Warner, who had singled and Keaton Ashby, who had walked, to get the Hackett scoring started.

The Hackett squad got out hit by the visiting Paw Paw team 11-6 on the day, but timely hitting was the key for the day, with four of their five runs scoring after two were out.

Carr led off the 4^th with a single and scored on a fielder's choice ground out by junior Andrew Widger, building the lead.  It should be noted that Carr also scored a pair of runs for HCP, going 2-2 and reaching first after being hit by a pitch.

A pair of freshmen also came up big at the plate for the Irish in the 5th with 3^rd baseman Steven Kwapis doubling to the right center gap with one out, followed by Carr's HBP.  Sophomore Garrett Warner reached on a fielder's choice and with the bases loaded, pitcher Sam Shea singled sharply thru the right side, scoring another two runs, and the Irish had a 5-2 lead, but Paw Paw wasn't done.

The visitors scored two runs in the top of the 6^th on 3 hits, an Irish error and a ground out, but Steven Kwapis came on to get the final out with a strike out.

The rookie Irish pitcher got the first out in the 7^th on a fly ball, the next Paw Paw hitter singled and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but Kwapis  then induced fielder's choice out and a fly ball to center to gain his first save of the year and Hackett's seventh win of the season.

Sam Shea was the winning pitcher for Hackett Catholic Prep, allowing ten hits, only walking one, and four runs over five and a third innings, striking out five.  Steven Kwapis threw one and two-thirds innings in relief out of the bullpen, recording the last five outs to earn the save.

Tyler Foote took the loss for Paw Paw, surrendering three runs on three hits over four innings, striking out two as Paw Paw drops to 6-4 on the season. Paw Paw totaled 11 hits in the game with Mason Popp collecting 3 singles and Zack Callahan two singles.

Hackett improved its record to 7-2-1 with the win and travels to Coloma for a non-division SAC double header on Thursday.