Porters Chapel got good hitting, good pitching and good defense Tuesday. In other words, it was everything they could have hoped for in a season opener.

Colby Rushing had three hits, including a game-ending three-run homer, and Reed Gordon went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored as PCA routed Tri-County 13-3.

Michael Wilson drove in two runs, and Joe Borrello had an RBI double as the Eagles collected 12 hits. Seven of their nine starters had at least one hit, and everyone reached base at least once.

“I guess we were just ready to play,” said Rushing, who also had a double, single, three stolen bases and two runs scored. “We jumped on their bad pitches and hit the good ones hard. That’s just one of the things we do well.”

Sophomore Montana McDaniel carried the pitching load for PCA, allowing three hits and two runs in four strong innings. He struck out eight and walked two. Fellow sophomore Ghost Jones finished up with two innings of relief, and allowed two hits and one run while striking out three.

The Eagles also turned two double plays on fly balls.

“We did good tonight. We came out and hit the ball. They backed me up,” McDaniel said. “The fastball and curveball were working. I just got them off-balance. I was on tonight.”

Tri-County took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but it was short-lived. PCA used a hit batter, a passed ball, two RBI groundouts and a run-scoring fielder’s choice to take the lead. Gabby Hays mixed in an RBI single as the Eagles surged ahead 4-1.

Tri-County’s Cody Saxton knocked in a run with the first of his two RBI singles in the fourth to cut it to 4-2, but PCA put the game away after that. They scored four in the bottom of the fourth and two in the fifth, before putting two on with one out in the sixth. Rushing launched a shot over the left field fence to make it 13-3 and end the game by the mercy rule.

“It was a crazy feeling,” Rushing said. “I thought it was going to be a double so I took off running. It was just crazy.”

If the Eagles did anything wrong, it was in the early innings when they missed several chances to put the game out of reach.

PCA left four runners in scoring position in the first three innings, and didn’t score in the third after having runners at second and third with no outs. Given the way they played later on, however, Rushing wasn’t concerned about that.

“We’ve got to get those runners in and do better with out two-out hits. But it’s the first game. That’ll come over time. It shouldn’t be a worry,” he said.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com