Jim Ned Indians crush Wall Hawks 7-0 behind Palmer's two-hitter

TUSCOLA — The Jim Ned Indians made a statement in their rivalry game against Wall, beating the Hawks 7-0 on Thursday to improve to 11-1 overall.

Senior pitcher Blaine Palmer set the tone for the Indians' seven-run win.

He threw a complete-game shutout and allowed just two hits. Palmer struck out 11 Hawk batters and only had one walk.

Palmer said the rivalry between Jim Ned and Wall helped motivate him beforehand.

“Coming out here, it’s always fun,” Palmer said. “Every year, this is what we look forward to. We call it “Wall Week” — we come out here and get after it.”

Thursday’s exceptional outing was nothing new for Palmer. The senior has signed to pitch for Abilene Christian and has already earned a handful of wins in the 2022 season.

Jim Ned coach Ryan Lewis, though, said Palmer’s most notable improvement this season has come with his off-speed pitches.

“He has both things working right now,” Lewis said. “He’s around the plate the whole time. He’s going to ACU for a reason: He’s the real deal.”

The Indians batters supported Palmer well.

Jim Ned scored five runs in the first three innings, giving the Indians a large early cushion. They tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning and finished the game with nine hits as a team.

The Indians scored three of their seven runs in two-out situations.

“We talked about situational hitting all week,” Lewis said. “It hurts the other team because they’re almost out of it. We did a very good job of it.”

Lewis thinks Palmer’s efficiency on the hill helped Jim Ned’s batters get comfortable.

“You have a guy like him on the mound, it makes it easier for those guys in the dugout to relax a little bit,” Lewis said.

Palmer led the Indians offensively with three hits and an RBI. Brayden Shipman and Troy Doran had two hits and a walk each.

Wall’s Gunnar Dillard and Dylan Gidney had the Hawks’ only two base hits.

Jim Ned has not lost since its season opener against Abilene High, a 6A opponent, on Feb. 25.

Since then, the Indians have allowed just 11 runs in 11 games. Of Jim Ned’s 11 wins, six were shutouts.

“I think we needed that loss, to be honest,” Palmer said. “We needed a check-up of where we were at. That pushed us to get better. I think, right now, we’re getting to where we need to be.”

Before beating Wall, the Indians beat Brady and TLCA San Angelo in their first two district contests. They have outscored opponents 35-0 in their three league games thus far.

While Lewis said there are still areas for his team to improve, he feels like his team is in a good spot as it enters the heat of district play.

“I think we made a big step today, as far as our approach at the plate,” Lewis said. “I really like where we’re at. We have a long way to go, but at this point right now, I’m very pleased.”

Carson Field is the area sports reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News. He covers primarily Big Country high school sports. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to reporternews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Jim Ned Indians crush Wall Hawks 7-0 behind Palmer's two-hitter