FCA UPDATE: Pike Road holds off Prattville for win; Catholic tops PCA
Prattville’s Ashton Cannon throws to first in the game featuring the Lions and Pike Road at Paterson Field. (Tim Gayle)
By TiM GAYLE
Prattville led off the fifth inning with three consecutive singles off of Pike Road starter Chael Kerr and threatened to take the lead in Friday’s meeting in the 30th FCA Jason Armstrong Memorial Baseball Tournament at Paterson Field.
That’s when Pike Road coach Allen Ponder turned to reliever Drew Britton to silence the Lions’ bats.
“It’s a good dynamic,” Ponder said. “I love using Chael early and then coming in with a right hander with a little velocity. Chael’s done a great job and been our guy all year long. Today, he struggled a little bit finding the zone, but even when he struggled to find the zone he battled and made some big pitches in key situations to get out of trouble.
“I was very proud of the way Chael battled to get us out of some situations and very proud of the way Drew came in and finished the game.”
Britton gave up an RBI single to Zach Ervie that trimmed the Pike Road lead to a run, then retired five of the next six batters over the final two innings to hand the Lions a 6-5 defeat on Friday afternoon.
“They’re a really scrappy team,” Britton said. “They get two strikes, they’re going to shorten up, always try to put the ball in play and they did a pretty good job of that today. We just hit the ball well and came out on top today.”
Prattville (7-5) is scheduled to face Providence Christian in its final tournament game on Saturday at Riverwalk Stadium, but Pike Road’s final game, a matchup with Trinity, was canceled because of a scheduling conflict. The Patriots (9-3) will return home instead and play a game against Lovejoy (Ga.) High at 3 p.m.
Pike Road took an early lead in Friday’s game when Runner Striplin scored on Jackson Fuller’s infield single, but the Lions roared back with three runs off Kerr in the third. Grant Williams led off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch and Drew Jolley doubled in a pair of runs for a 3-1 lead.
The Patriots answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning and another in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead. Britton finished Jolley’s afternoon on the mound with a two-run single to right to score DJ Tolliver and Striplin.
Britton's single came moments after a controversial play in which Prattville second baseman Ashton Cannon fielded Grady Waren's grounder, reached out to tag Pike Road's Runner Striplin as he went from first to second, then threw to first baseman Landon Sumrall for an apparent double play. Officials ruled he missed the tag on Striplin, keeping the inning alive for Britton to drive in two more runs.
“We got down early,” Britton said. “In the third inning, they came out and hit us in the mouth, took a little lead. Then we came in the dugout and everybody was on board, the energy was still up and we just hit the ball and found gaps.”
Britton’s two-run single, he added, was “sort of a different approach. Once he threw me an off speed, I knew he’d come back with a fastball, so I was just sitting dead-red right there and he threw it and I barreled it up pretty good.”
Kerr ran into trouble in the fifth as Tanner Vance doubled, Ashton Cannon singled and Jolley followed with a single to score Vance. After Clayton Smith’s bunt moved Cannon to third and Jolley to second, Ponder decided to make a switch on the mound.
“Chael, a lefty, throws a lot of really good changeups, really good off speed, and his fastball is getting up there,” Britton said. “I just think I’m a lot different. I come in from the right side and throw more of a cutter-slider combo, so everything looks completely different.”
Ervie greeted Britton with an RBI single and Williams had a single in the sixth, but Britton kept the game-tying run from scoring and the game ended in the sixth inning after reaching the tournament time limit.
“That’s a great win,” Ponder said. “That’s a very well coached team year in and year out so for us that is a big win. They’re going to be in the (playoff) mix every single year and we realize that so we want to come in and play fundamental baseball and give ourselves a chance to win. We got some timely hits and did some things well.”
Catholic 5, Prattville Christian 2
PRATTVILLE -- Adrian White, Alex Fleet and Josh Palmer all had RBIs to help the Knights to a 5-2 win over Prattville Christian in the 30th FCA Jason Armstrong Memorial Baseball Tournament at Prattville Christian on Friday.
Friday’s tournament games originally scheduled for Riverwalk Stadium were moved to campus sites because of a scheduling conflict.
White drove in a run in the first to give the Knights an early 1-0 lead, but Parker Blake’s RBI single in the third tied the game at 1-1.
The Knights got a double from Kam Miller and singles from Hudson Parrish, White, Alex Fleet, Josh Palmer and Gavin Phelan. Blake went 3 for 3 to lead Prattville Christian.
Palmer started and went 2.2 innings for the Knights, allowing a run on four hits while striking out three and walking two. Fleet pitched the final 4.1 innings, allowing a run on five hits while striking out three.
Blake allowed six hits and four runs over five innings while striking out four.
Trinity 8, Prattville 4 (Thursday)
For four innings, Prattville seemed to have a slight edge on Trinity in the Thursday’s meeting between the two teams in the 30th FCA Jason Armstrong Memorial Baseball Tournament at Riverwalk Stadium.
But in the fifth inning, the Lions unraveled on defense as the Wildcats gained momentum, riding a six-run inning to an 8-4 victory that snapped Prattville’s four-game winning streak.
“This game is a game of momentum,” Trinity coach Jarrod Cook said. “(Prattville coach) Kevin (Hall) does a tremendous job with Prattville. They’re well coached. Once we got some momentum, guys start believing, then it gets contagious. That’s the game of baseball.”
Wesley Stallings was at the forefront of the momentum change, taking the mound in relief and holding the Lions to a pair of runs after they had loaded the bases with no outs, then delivering a two-run single in the bottom half of the inning to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game.
“Obviously, he’s a senior and he’s a guy we’re going to rely on heavily, especially out of the bullpen,” Cook said. “He, along with a lot of our guys, has just been trying to find his stuff. He’s got good stuff, he’s just got to trust it. He just came in and pounded the strike zone and they hit it right at a couple of guys.”
Prattville took a 2-0 lead in the third inning after a pair of one-out walks in the second and third innings led to runs, the first on a wild pitch that scored Mason Piper, the second on an error that scored Tanner Vance.
Trinity tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI double by DM Lieux and a groundout by Stallings, who went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs.
After Prattville loaded the bases against Lieux, Stallings came on in relief and the Wildcats threw out Vance at the plate on a groundout before Zach Ervie singled in Clayton Smith and Drew Jolley scored on a sacrifice fly by Piper for a 4-2 lead.
“Coach Cook always tells me to just fill up the zone and as long as I fill up the zone, my ball will sink so it’s hard for hitters to hit it,” Stallings said. “As long as I come in there and throw strikes, my defense will work and our defense did a great job today.”
In the bottom half of the inning Ross Sanders was hit by a pitch by Ervie, Walker McClinton reached on a bunt single when no one covered first and Wilson Albrecht following with an RBI bunt single back toward the mound when no one covered first.
Stallings followed with an opposite-field bloop down the right field line that drove in two runs for a 5-4 lead and stole second on the next pitch when no one covered the base.
“I had two strikes on me and I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Stallings said. “I found a gap and scored two runs, so that was good.”
Brady Rascoll and Webber McClinton added RBI singles and Rascoll would late steal home on a errant throw to second base.
Albrecht went 2 for 2, scored twice and drove in a run as the Wildcats (2-5) won their second consecutive game after starting the season 0-5. Trinity resumes play in the tournament on Friday with a game at Whittle-Armstrong Field against Holtville at 2 p.m., followed by a Saturday game at Riverwalk against Pike Road at 10 a.m.
“I think getting our momentum going has helped us a lot,” Stallings said. “After losing five straight games, it’s just good to get some wins and hopefully keep this momentum going.”
Montgomery Academy 10, Brew Tech 0 (6)
Camp Shanahan went 3 for 4 and drove in a run to help the Eagles to a 10-0 win over Brew Tech in the 30th FCA Jason Armstrong Memorial Baseball Tournament at Paterson Field on Thursday.
The game was called in the sixth inning with Brew Tech at bat after a downpour halted play.
Bray Renfroe went 1 for 3 and drove in a pair of runs for Montgomery Academy, while Will Hardin went 2 for 5 and drove in three runs, Parker Cook went 2 for 2 and drew three walks and Rick McBride went 2 for 4.
Beau Smith picked up the win, allowing just two hits in five innings while walking two and striking out one.
Results for the 30th FCA Jason Armstrong Memorial Tournament
Games will be played at Riverwalk Stadium and Paterson Field unless noted otherwise
Tuesday (3/7) results
Riverwalk Stadium
Park Crossing 5, Greenville 3
Andalusia 4, Chilton County 2 (10 inn.)
Pike County vs. G.W. Carver - cancelled
Wednesday (3/8) results
Riverwalk Stadium
Prattville 11, St. James 6
Elmore County 5, Montgomery Academy 2
LAMP 12, Brew Tech 5
Paterson Field
Stanhope Elmore 3, Alabama Christian 0
Andalusia 4, Prattville Christian 0
Holtville 2, Pike Road 0
Thursday (3/9) results
Riverwalk Stadium
Trinity 8, Prattville 4
Stanhope Elmore vs. Andalusia - Rained Out
Holtville vs. Alabama Christian - Rained Out
Paterson Field
Montgomery Academy 10, Brew Tech 0 (6 inn.)
St. James vs. Catholic - Rained Out
Prattville Christian vs LAMP - Rained Out
Friday (3/10) results
Holtville 7, Trinity 1 (Whittle-Armstrong Field)
Prattville Christian 5, Catholic 3
Providence Christian 15, Montgomery Academy 0 (Bowman Field)
Paterson Field
Pike Road 6, Prattville 4
Elmore County 4, Alabama Christian 3
Brew Tech 15, R.E. Lee 0
Saturday (3/11) schedule
Riverwalk Stadium
Trinity 6, PCA 5
Holtville 8, St. James 6
Greenville 6, R.E. Lee 4
Paterson Field
Prattville 2, Providence Christian 0
Providence Christian 8, Catholic 7
LAMP 8, Elmore County 7
Monday (3/13) results
Riverwalk Stadium
Brew Tech 8, Park Crossing 5 (5 inn - time constraints)
G.W. Carver 13, Jeff Davis 5