Indians outslug Lancaster, 17-7

Gaffney woke up from an early season offensive funk in a 17-7 win over Lancaster Thursday evening.

McCrae Norton hit for the cycle to lead an Indians attack that collected 19 hits off three Bruins pitchers.

The game was called in the fifth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Norton started the offensive onslaught when he lead off the first inning with a towering home run to left field. Michael Hughey doubled and scored on a fielder's choice to give the Indians an early 2-0 lead.

Lancaster's Josh Warfield opened the second inning with a home run off Gaffney starting pitcher Dylan Jolley. The Bruins took advantage of a couple of walks and wild pitches to take a 4-2 lead.

With the bases loaded, Gaffney first baseman Bubba Wright got the Indians out of trouble with a diving catch in the infield to end the scoring threat. Jolley recorded two strikeouts to work his way out of another bases loaded jam.

The Indians scored four runs in the second inning to take a 6-4 lead. Bobby Jackson had a RBI double and Norton drove in another run with a RBI single.

The Indians added to their lead with three more runs in the next inning, highlighted by a 2-run homer by Jolley.

"We had a great night offensively and played good defense," Gaffney baseball coach Tom Owens said. "Our kids have big hearts and love to play baseball. When we were on offensively, we can play with any team."

The Indians added four insurance runs to take a 13-4 lead at the end of the fourth inning. Josh Matta and Wright had RBI singles in the inning.

Gaffney (6-5 overall, 1-4 region) rebounded from an 8-6 loss Wednesday night to Easley.

Easley scored six runs in the sixth inning to erase an early 5-0 lead by Gaffney.

Norton was 2-4 to pace the Indians offensively.

Gaffney will face one of the state's top teams in Boiling Springs today to open the second half of its region schedule. The Indians will attempt to make a late push in the region before the season ends April 18.