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Pirates Win First Two In
Hank Aaron Classic
By ROBERT LADNIER -
Mobile Press-Register Sports Reporter
Fairhope,
AL (February 18, 2010) -- The Fairhope High baseball
team got clutch hitting, pitching and fielding on day two to
survive with a 6-5 win over Baldwin County High in the Hank
Aaron Classic at Volanta Park on Tuesday night.
"They came at us and played
well," Fairhope coach Stu Fuller said. "We made mistakes and
their pitchers did a good job of keeping us off-balance. We
had some more early-season things today and made some
mistakes. Thank goodness for a pair of two-run doubles."
All three Baldwin teams playing
at Volanta Park this week are doing well after the first two
days of action, with the Pirates 2-0 overall, the Tigers and
Spanish Fort both 1-1 while Faith Academy fell to 0-2.
Fairhope's Wes Kent (1-0) got
the win in relief, scattering two hits over two innings
after starter Ashton Johnson gave up one hit and six walks
with five strikeouts in three innings, while closer Cody
Etheridge went 1 1/3 innings and gave up one hit with two
strikeouts for a save.
"I thought Wes came in and kept
us in the ball game, and Cody did what he does in closing it
out," Fuller said.
Jansen Boeschen (0-1) took the
loss, yielding three hits and five runs in three innings.
At the plate, Kent was 2-for-4
with a double and three RBIs, Peyton Fuller doubled and had
two RBIs and Garrett Pitts went 2-for-3 for Fairhope.
Jordan Ebert went 2-for-4 with
three runs scored and Boeschen had two RBIs for BCHS, which
stranded 10 runners on the night for BCHS.
"We had runners on base all
night and we did not cash them in," Tiger coach Peter
Bezeredi said. "We had a chance in the first inning with the
bases loaded and no outs and only got one run."
In the top of the first, Johnson
hit Boeschen with a pitch with the bases loaded to give up a
run to the Tigers but then worked out of the jam.
The Pirates answered in the
bottom of the second with Kent and Peyton Fuller hitting
back-to-back two-run doubles in a five-run burst for a 5-1
lead.
Baldwin County got three runs
back in the fourth on an RBI single by Chris Andreoli, a
bases-loaded walk by Demetrius Coley and Boeschen's sac-fly
to cut the lead to 5-4.
The Pirates added a run on an
RBI single by Kent in the fifth, while the Tigers countered
it when Ebert scored while Lee Bush reached on an error.
"We had way too many
strikeouts," Bezeredi said. "It's a tough loss but we'll
learn from it and hopefully get better.
"I thought we have been playing
solid defensively -- our pitching has been pretty good --
with a couple of plays here and there on defense. Overall I
am pleased with our intensity."
Spanish Fort 8, Faith Academy
0
Rocky McCord scattered three
hits while striking out five batters in four innings as
Spanish Fort shut out Faith Academy in the early game
Tuesday.
Cole Jarman went 2-for-4 with a
double, triple and two RBIs, Patrick McGavin added a double
and two RBIs, Wes Runnels a double, Luke Crittenden a triple
and Troy Brown two RBIs for the Toros.
Tyler Kiernan had a double, while Taylor Nichols (0-1) gave
up six hits and five runs in four innings for the Rams.
"It was fun to play again,"
Spanish Fort coach Tommy Walker said. "We found the barrel a
few times and Rocky threw strikes tonight. All in all, it
was a very good day for the Toros.
"Last night the old baseball
gods weren't really with us (in a 9-1 loss to Fairhope).
You've got Daryl Norris, probably the best pitcher in
Alabama throwing and Stu is sitting on 499 wins. We took
pretty good hacks at him last night."
The Toros opened the bottom of
the first with two runs on an RBI triple by Jarman and a
sac-fly by McGavin, added one run each in the second, third
and fourth innings and iced the game with three runs in the
sixth on an RBI single by Brown and RBI doubles by Jarman
and McGavin.
Baldwin County 3, Faith 0
Justin Miller (1-0) scattered
two hits, striking out six batters and stranding six runners
in five innings of work as Baldwin County blanked Faith on
Monday.
Boeschen hit a two-run homer,
Tucker Miller added an RBI and Jacob Dean a double for the
Tigers.
Taylor Nichols had a double,
while James Traylor (0-1) gave up four hits with four
strikeouts and stranded five runners for the Rams.
Dean doubled in the bottom of
the second inning and scored on a two-out RBI single by
Tucker Miller for a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth, Coley led off
getting hit by a pitch and Boeschen followed with a home run
over right center field for a 3-0 advantage.
Fairhope 9, SFHS 1
Norris (1-0) tossed a
one-hitter, striking out eight batters in 6 1/3-innings as
Fairhope gave coach Fuller -- who had open heart surgery
less than four weeks ago -- his 500th career coaching win.
At the plate, Norris had a solo
homer and two RBIs, Kaleb Naseman went 2-for-3 with two RBIs
and Evan East and Chase Domino each had a double for the
Pirates.
Cole Jarman had a double and
drove in a run off an error, while Zac Fowler (0-1) gave up
three hits, six walks and four runs with two strikeouts in 3
1/2-innings for the Toros.
Fairhope got four runs in the
bottom of the second inning, two in the fourth, one in the
fifth and two more in the sixth for a 9-0 lead.
Fowler scored on a two-out RBI
single by Jarman in the top of the seventh to avert the
shutout. |
