One might think the termites swarming around McComb Rotary Field on Friday night had turned the McComb Blue Sox bat rack into a pile of sawdust.
Instead, it was the McComb Brakemen’s pitching that turned the opposing hitters’ aluminum bats into aluminum foil.
Two Brakemen pitchers combined on a five-inning no-hitter and they coasted to an 11-0 victory over the Blue Sox in Southeastern Baseball League action.
Making his Brakemen debut, Justin Hay threw three innings of relief. The former product of McComb High, Southwest Mississippi Community College and Faulkner University sported a fastball in the low 90s. He relieved starter Brian Eby and struck out two in the third, then fanned the side in the fourth.
The only blemish on Hay’s otherwise perfect pitching line came in the fifth, when a Brakemen fielding error allowed Marcus Coleman to reach base.
But Hay retired the next three hitters, including another via strikeout.
“As if our pitching wasn’t doing well enough,” Eby said, “we’ve just gotten a lot better.”
Eby was himself pretty sharp. The left-hander gave up a leadoff walk to open the bottom of the first, but then struck out the side.
In the second, Eby finished his night’s work with two groundouts along with a fourth strikeout.
“We’ve got to learn to hit the baseball,” Blue Sox head coach Deon Smith said. “I still feel like we’re one of the best teams out here. We just need to hit the baseball.”
The Brakemen (4-1) supplied all the offense their pitching duo needed with a seven-run top of the first.
Pat Barnes led off with a single to right and went to third on a two-base fielding error by Blue Sox right fielder Bryan Miller. After a walk to Dylan Roberts, Ben Slaton greeted Blue Sox (1-3) pitcher Kelsey Island with a single to right to score Barnes.
Shortstop Gary Hart’s misplay of James Antoon’s grounder loaded the bases. Seth James followed with a walk to force home Roberts for a 2-0 lead.
Chuck Ford then drilled a long single to deep center field that scored Slaton and Antoon to make it 4-0. McKee’s sacrifice fly to center plated James to push the lead to 5-0.
Matt Howell capped the lead when he crushed a two-run home run over the right-field fence to extend the lead to 7-0.
After his rough start, Island settled down, thanks in part to his defense.
Island pitched around a single and walk in the second, striking out two. In the third, Blue Sox center fielder Hart robbed Parks of an extra-base hit with a diving catch to his right in the left-center field gap.
The Brakemen, however, touched Island for three more runs in the fourth.
With one out, Antoon and James singled, but Antoon was retired on a rundown between second and third base, with third baseman Ricky McGhee applying the tag for the second out.
But Ford followed with a long single off the left-field wall, and McKee laced a single to left that scored James and sent Ford to third.
Howell again highlighted the inning, this time with a triple to the left-center field gap that plated Ford and McKee for a 10-0 advantage.
The Brakemen capped the scoring in the fifth when Barnes doubled to left and scored on Roberts’ bloop single to right for an 11-0 lead.
Island was saddled with the loss despite tossing a complete game. He surrendered 13 hits, issued three walks and struck out two.
The Brakemen return to action today at 3:05 as they host the Louisiana Dodgers. The Blue Sox will take on the Pike County Pirates at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Rotary Field.
