MONDAY PREPS: St. James sweeps LAMP; ACA shuts out Lee
Ethan Beard makes diving catch in St. James’ win over LAMP on Monday at Paterson Field. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
After waiting three days to finish his team’s series with LAMP, St. James coach Keith Lucky wasn’t sure what to expect from his baseball team on Monday.
The Trojans had routed the Golden Tigers at home on Thursday and the series shifted to Paterson Field on Friday for a doubleheader before the players would break for a four-day spring break before returning for Thursday’s home game with Robert E. Lee.
Instead, thunderstorms postponed the game on Friday and then coaches were informed the city would not allow any games at Paterson Field on Saturday, forcing St. James players to put any thoughts of a spring break out of their head until the conclusion of Monday’s doubleheader.
“You want them to have their spring break time,” Lucky said. “I usually give them three or four days but with us not being able to play on Saturday and backing that up to Monday just ruined everybody’s plans. I hated it. Most facilities in this city you were able to play on (on Saturday) but we just weren’t able to get out here and play on this one.”
St. James (10-3) showed no signs of rust, beating LAMP 12-2 and 9-6 to sweep Monday’s doubleheader. The first game counted in the area standings, improving the Trojans to 2-0 in 4A Area 3, while the second served as a tiebreaker should the two teams finished tied in the area standings.
“We hit the baseball today,” Lucky said. “My pitchers did a good job today. We hit the baseball and played fairly good defense. I’m proud we’re generating runs.”
LAMP (8-6) started the season 8-1 but has now dropped its fifth consecutive game and fell to 0-2 in area play.
St. James, which has had trouble generating runs with two outs, scored 10 of its 12 runs in the first game on two-out hits. The No. 8 and No. 9 batters in the lineup were particularly effective as Ariel July went 3 for 7 with three RBIs in the two games, while Clint Houser went 4 for 7.
“I’ll give them a lot of credit, a lot of two-out hits to bring in a bunch of runs,” LAMP coach Frank Parsons said. “That’s why you don’t exhale until you get that third out because it’s as important as the first one. They put the ball in play and found the holes, especially the back part of their order.”
With the bottom of the order getting on base, the top two hitters, Shaun Bridges and Ethan Beard, ech went 3 for 7 and cleanup hitter Clint Shores went 5 for 7 with six RBIs.
That was more than enough for Foster Rasmussen, who shook off a pair of unearned LAMP runs in the first inning by holding the Golden Tigers to one hit over the next four innings. Adam Garnett pitched the final two innings for the Trojans.
Last year, St. James split the opening area series with Alabama Christian and lost the tiebreaker, a deficit they could not make up. This year, the Trojans are 2-0 and own the tiebreaker.
“It’s a lot better,” Lucky said. “It’s so sad that it’s so early that we have to start area play. Most teams across the state of Alabama start area play after spring break. The last couple of years, we’ve had five-team areas and we have to start so early, it’s like my basketball guys have just a week under their belts.”
In the second game, Will Romanowski drove in a pair of runs with a single and a double to help the Golden Tigers take a 5-3 lead into the seventh, only to give up six runs in an error-filled inning that included three consecutive walks by LAMP pitchers.
“We were running out of gas, they were running out of gas,” Parsons said. “We did not get it done. We didn’t make the pitches at the end. We made some poor throws (by the fielders). We kind of exhaled too early, thinking it was over. A good team finds a way to put guys on base and then we helped them.”
Romanowski finished the day with a 3 for 8 performances, while teammate Grayson Hall went 2 for 3 before sitting out the second game. Andrew Lutz went 2 for 6 for the Golden Tigers.
Both teams return to action on Thursday, with LAMP playing host to Reeltown.
BASEBALL
Alabama Christian Academy 11, Robert E. Lee 0
Isaac Warrick allowed just one hit while striking out 11 over six innings as the Eagles defeated Lee 11-0 in a game shortened to six innings by the mercy rule at Paterson Field on Monday evening.
Warrick also went 1 for 2 with a triple to drive in a run for ACA. Preston Hicks went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs, Trey Schlemmer went 2 for 2 with a double and a pair of RBIs and Hunter Barfoot went 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs in the win.
ACA returns home to play Brew Tech in a doubleheader at the AUM Baseball Complex on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Catholic 15, Brew Tech 3
Alex Wieser went 3 for 4 and drove in four runs to help his cause on the mound as the Knights blasted the Rams on Monday night at Brew Tech.
Wieser pitched the first three innings, allowing three runs, one earned, on three hits and earned the win as his team rallied from a 2-1 deficit with six runs in the second and five more in the third to take a 12-3 lead.
Hudson Parrish and Pat Ryan each went 2 for 3 and drove in a pair of runs as part of the Knights’ 12-hit attack.
A pair of freshmen finished up on the mound for Catholic as Brody Hudson pitched the fourth, allowing two hits while walking one and striking out two to lead the bases loaded, and Michael Hill closed out the game with a scoreless fifth, allowing one hit while striking out one.
Catholic travels to G.W. Carver on Tuesday before returning home to play host to Brew Tech on Friday.
Yorksville 5, Trinity 3
GULF SHORES -- Owen Ross went 2 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs as the Illinois team rallied from a 3-1 deficit with three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth for a 5-3 win over the Wildcats in the Gulf Coast Classic II at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex on Monday afternoon.
Michael Hilker was the winning pitcher, allowing three runs on five hits in a complete-game performance.
Trinity (10-3) will face Greenfield (Tenn.) High on Tuesday at Robertsdale High at 7 p.m.
Trinity 11, Walnut Ridge 5
GULF SHORES -- The Wildcats opened play in the Gulf Coast Classic II with a strong performance on the mound and at the plate in an 11-5 win over their Arkansas visitors at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex on Monday afternoon.
Coleman Stanley picked up the win on the mound, scattering five hits and allowing just two earned runs in 3.1 innings of work. Walker McClinton came on in relief and pitched 3.1 innings, striking out seven and allowing just one hit.
At the plate, Ben Easterling went 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles, driving in three runs. Mac McClinton went 2 for 5, scoring twice and driving in two runs. Simmons Byrd and Christopher Bryant each went 2 for 4 in Monday’s win.
Trinity (10-2) returned to the field later in the day to play Yorksville High.
GIRL SOCCER
Trinity 6, Catholic 0
The Wildcats improved to 2-0 in area play with a 6-0 shutout of Catholic on Friday night.
Katherine Warren and Hastings Avant both scored a pair of goals for the Wildcats. Mary Alice Sasser assisted Ella Wiswall on the first goal before the two reversed roles for the second goal and a 2-0 lead. Warren scored her goals with assists from Elsie Hufham and Sasser and Avant followed with a pair of goals, scoring the first with an assist from Warren, for a 6-0 lead.
Kaylee Peavy earned the shutout in goal for Trinity.