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After taking the lead in the middle innings, the Pleasant Home Eagles held off a late surge by the Elba Tigers to open baseball season with a 10-8 victory.

After falling behind by one, the Eagles scored three in the fourth inning and four more in the fifth to take a 9-3 lead. Elba scored five in the top of the sixth to make it a one-run game. After scoring a single run in the bottom of that inning, the Eagles secured the win by shutting down Elba in the top of the seventh.

Elba got on the board first, when Easton McKelvey stole third and continued home on a throwing error.

The Eagles answered in the bottom of the first with Reedi Bozeman reaching on an error and then moving to second on a fielder’s choice. After advancing to third on a passed ball, Bozeman scored on a Logan Cook single to right field. After consecutive walks to Jayce Smith and Andrew Clark, the Eagles had the bases loaded. With two outs, Walt Cook drew a walk to force Cook home and giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead at the end of the first.

On the mound, Bozeman made quick work of the Tigers in the second, getting a ground ball followed by consecutive strike outs.

In the top of the fourth inning, Elba got things going as their leadoff batter reached on a fielding error, which was followed by a walk to put runners at first and second. After another strikeout by Bozeman, Dylan Holley singled to score Powell Bane. A fielding error led to another run as Elba took a 3-2 advantage.

The Eagles came right back in their half of the fourth, getting things going with a walk by Walt Cook followed by Charlie Steele getting on when he was hit by a pitch. A double-steal moved both the runners up to second and third and a pop-up single by Bozeman scored Cook for the tying run and sent Steele to third.

A ground ball off the bat of Logan Cook was mishandled by the shortstop, bringing Steele home and with one out the Eagles had runners at second and third. A walk to Jack Wiggins loaded the bases. Logan Cook followed with a groundball and reached on a fielding error, scoring Steele. A pick-off attempt at third went badly for the Tigers, leading to a Bozeman coming home and a 5-3 lead for the Eagles at the end of four innings.

The Eagles got into some trouble in the top of the fifth, but Bozeman did a nice job getting out of it with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat with no harm done.

The Eagles showed patience at the plate and took advantage of some wild pitching. After opening their half of the inning by loading the bases on three consecutive walk, the Eagles scored on a fourth. Steele made the score 7-3 when he scored from third on a passed ball. Jack Wiggins drew another walk for the Eagles, loading the bases once again. Logan Cook’s ground ball to first led to two more runs as Bozeman and Wiggins touched home. A ground-out ended the fifth inning with Pleasant Home opening a 9-3 lead.

Elba took advantage of some Eagle mistakes in the top of the sixth. After allowing a Tiger to reach on a dropped third strike, the Tigers earned consecutive walks to load the bases. A fielder’s choice to Steele at third base went to home plate where Wiggins applied the tag for the second out.

With the two outs, a throwing error followed by a wild pitch brought Elba to within one run of the Eagles, 9-8.

The Eagles got an important run in the bottom of the sixth when Walt Cook hit a line-drive single to left, driving in John Luke Colvin.

The Pleasant Home defense closed the door on the Tigers with a double play when shortstop Jayce Smith sent the ball to second baseman Walt Cook who then sent the ball to first for the final out.

Bozeman pitched five innings in the winning effort for the Eagles. He gave up six earned runs on six hits and five walks while also recording 10 strikeouts. Andrew Clark pitched the final inning and recorded a save.

Bozeman was among the leaders for the Eagle offense as well, scoring three runs with one hit and two walks. Logan Cook recorded four RBI with two hits in the game. Walt Cook reached base during each of his appearances, getting one hit and three walks while also notching two RBI. Colvin went one-for-three in the game while scoring two runs.

The Eagles start the season 1-0 and will host Goshen on Friday, Feb. 28, at 4:30 p.m.