MA struggles in Tennessee


Thursday, March 26, 2009
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MA struggles in Tennessee

The Marshall Academy Patriots went 1-3 last week in the Lewis Harris Memorial Tournament in neighboring Tennessee.

Bolton 11 Marshall 5

Senior Hunter Bolden gave the Patriots a 2-0 lead in the first inning March 16 with his second home run of the spring.

Elgin Lafever and Parker James had two hits apiece. Jordan Brock had a respectable outing in relief as he went four innings, allowing four runs on three hits and striking out two. Marshall pitchers combined to walk nine batters and hit three others, which led to the Pats’ demise, according to coach Johnny Ray.

Will Patton took the loss and dropped his record to 2-1.

Marshall 10 Millington 3

Senior pitcher Chris Gardner again turned in a solid performance on the mound as he went the first six innings allowing one unearned run, while striking out nine. Gardner improved his season record to 2-0.

“Chris was pretty much in control the whole game,” Coach Ray said. “Anytime he got in trouble, he would make a quality pitch when he needed to. He was on top of his game”

MA was able to get some run support as they plated two runs in the first and added three more in the third. After Millington scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, the Patriots responded by putting the game out of reach with four in the sixth.

In the first, Marshall’s Tyler Childers reached on a Trojan error, stole third and scored when James reached on an error. Bolden scored on Jake Omedeo’s sacrifice fly.

In the third, Bolden and Jake Omedeo both walked and scored on Caleb Byrd’s double. Byrd scored on Josh Vanderburg’s run-batted-in groundout.

In the sixth, James, Byrd, Vanderburg and Joey Brock had RBI as the Patriots mounted a 10-1 lead.

Rossville Christian 6 MA 1

A lethargic effort by the Patriots led to the final outcome, Ray said.

MA managed only one hit into the seventh when it strung together a couple hits to break up the shutout. Rossville’s Drake Wimberly went the distance, striking out seven.

“I thought our team was turning the corner after beating Millington earlier in the day,” Ray said. “We came out flat, got behind early and could never recover.”

A bright spot for the Patriots, he said, was senior Harris Gholson, who after struggling through the first inning, settled down and registered a complete game effort on the mound. Rossville scored four runs in the first, thanks to a couple walks, a hit batter and a base hit.

“After the first, Harris started to pitch instead of just throwing,” Ray said.

He walked three and struck out three as his record fell to 2-1.

Covington 9 Marshall 4

As was the theme in the previous losses in the tourney, Marshall Academy spotted the Chargers of Covington an early lead and would never recover. MA fell behind 1-0 after one and 6-0 after two.

“It just boiled down to the fact that we didn’t make a couple defensive plays that we are more than capable of making,” Coach Ray said. “Also getting us into trouble was the fact that our pitchers are giving up too many walks and hitting too many batters. They always seem to come back to haunt you.”

After falling behind 9-1 after three, the Patriots found a little life offensively and made the final score respectable. Childers homered to lead off the fifth and Bolden singled and later scored on a Charger error. In the seventh, Joey Omedeo doubled and stole third and was knocked in by Bolden for the fourth Patriot run.

Joey Brock was very effective in relief of starter James on the mound. In four innings, he allowed one run while striking out four and walking none. He scattered five hits.

Marshall’s overall diamond record dropped to 10-6.

Schedule

The Patriots face Kirk Academy Thursday at home in varsity and junior varsity action starting at 4 p.m. They host FACS at home on Friday in varsity and junior varsity play starting at 4:30.

A key conference series against Lee awaits Monday, April 30, at home and Thursday, April 2, at Clarksdale.

Also a Tuesday, March 31, tripleheader at home against North Delta awaits. Junior high plays at 3:30, followed by the junior varsity at 5 p.m. and the varsity at 7.

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