Marshall Academy dominate in round one

Marshall Academy carried the hot bats to Greenville Tuesday, April 15. The Patriots had 24 hits in the sweep of St. Joseph, 16 of those coming in game two.

“We started out a little slow in game one,” coach Dustin Skelton said, “but we blew it up pretty quickly in the second game.”

MA scored its eight hits in the Class 4A playoff opener and picked up the 5-0 victory.

Phillip Sharpe drove in the first run in the top of the first inning with a sacrifice fly. The Patriots added two runs in the second, one in the third and one in the seventh.

Gage Todd and Kyler Todd each had two runs-batted-in. Mason Woods went three-forthree from the batter's box, and Collin Woods added two hits.

Meanwhile, Gage Todd was dominant on the mound. He threw a complete game shutout, striking out 12, giving up just one hit and walking two.

Marshall crushed the Irish 19-2 in game two, which lasted only three innings due to the run rule.

Gage Todd led the offense with three hits and four RBIs.

“At one point, we had like 11 hits in a row,” Coach Skelton said.

Colt Carpenter picked up the mound win. He struck out two, walked two and gave up two hits. One of St. Joe's two runs was earned.

Coach Skelton also wanted to give freshman Charlie Cross a plug for stepping up and filling the catcher role in fine fashion.

“He's a young kid and he got thrown into the fire while we were playing in Biloxi (spring break),” Skelton said, “and he's done a great job for us behind the plate.”

Next up for the Patriots (219) is a best-of-three series versus Canton Academy. Game one of the series was scheduled for Tuesday of this week in Holly Springs. Games two and three (if needed) will be played Thursday or Friday in Canton.

“The competition gets better and better as you advance,” Skelton said. “We have to be sure we continue to improve and get timely hitting and strong pitching.”

The Marshall-Canton survivor advances to the North 4A semi-finals the week of April 28. The North championship series is the week of May 5. The North champion and the South champion will meet the week of May 12 for the Class 4A state championship.