AHSAA 1ST ROUND: Trinity rolls Northside to move into next round
Trinity’s Brady Rascoll was a big part of the offensive barrage in the sweep of Northside in the Class 4A first round on Friday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
There’s no question the 2023 edition of Trinity’s baseball team has a different look than the 2022 version that won the 3A state championship. But, at least on Friday, you could see glimpses of the same team.
The Wildcats scored five runs in the first inning of the first game and seven innings in the first inning of the second game, rolling through Northside 10-7 and 15-2 in the first round of the 4A state playoffs at Whittle-Armstrong Field.
“I think that was our week of preparation,” Trinity senior Wesley Stallings said. “We had a good week of preparation, hard practices. Our coaches pushed us this week and challenged us and I think both of those games are examples of hard work by all of us.”
Trinity (20-12) will travel to the Mobile area for the second consecutive year in the second round, facing Satsuma in a best-of-three series that starts on Friday.
Last year’s Wildcats could count on pitchers Ben Easterling, Grayson Ashe, Coleman Stanley and Fleming Hall to hold opponents in check and with Hall limited this season to duty as a designated hitter because of a lingering elbow injury, a new crop of Trinity pitchers aren’t nearly as dominant so the 2023 players have a different mindset entering the playoffs.
“We had big arms, big bats and we lost a lot of those from last year,” junior third baseman Brady Rascoll said. “Put the ball in play and good things will happen.”
That formula worked on Friday. In the first game, Trinity sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning with singles by Hall, Cooper Bernier, D.M. Lieux, Rascoll and Brady Bennett for a 5-0 lead. In the second game, Trinity sent 11 batters to the plate with singles by Hall, Bernier, Rascoll, Stallings, Bennett and a three-run double by Hall made it 7-0.
“We talked about that,” Trinity coach Jarrod Cook said. “We said we’ve got to throw the first punch and swing it well. I didn’t know it was going to be that good.”
Trinity added three runs in the second inning of the first game for an 8-0 lead, then watched as the Rams chipped away, cutting the lead to 8-6 before the Wildcats finally added two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
“They started doing their job and we started getting ourselves out,” Stallings said. “It started getting scary a little at the end a little bit but we came through. Our whole defense played really well today and our pitching was stellar.”
Like the first game, Trinity added three runs in the second inning of the second game to make it 10-0. Each of the eight Wildcats that started both games had at least two hits: Hall was 4 for 6 with three RBIs, Bernier was 2 for 6, Lieux was 7 for 8 with two RBIs, Ross Sanders was 3 for 5 with two RBIs, Rascoll was 3 for 7 with six RBIs, Stallings was 3 for 6 with six RBIs, Bennett was 3 for 6 with two RBIs and Wilson Albrecht was 2 for 4 with an RBI.
The Wildcats made just one fielding error in 12 innings and it wasn’t by a starter.
“Last year we were a totally different team,” Stallings said. “This year, I think we have a new identity. We’re peaking at the right time. Our identity now is to let our defense work. Last year, we had more dominant pitchers. We’re just trying to push runs across and let our defense work.”
The names may have changed, but the goals remain the same, even as Competitive Balance Factor elevated the Wildcats to Class 4A this season.
“They know when you get in the playoffs, anything can happen,” Cook said. “Everybody’s 0-0, but if you just get in, you’ve got a chance. For this team, it’s been up and down all year, trying to find our identity. It’s not so much a team identity, it’s more individually based. What can I do to help our team win? It’s different from last year, but the experience these guys had (in 2022), it’s invaluable.”