Giving up 11 runs in the top of the first inning at home Tuesday to Lawrence County proved costly to the South Pike baseball team as it remained winless for the 2016 season. The Cougars defeated the Eagles 17-0 in four innings.
South Pike, now 0-4 in district play, committed three errors early to help Lawrence County score its first five runs. Eagles pitcher Malik Leonard struck out one hitter in the first inning, but the ball got away and he reached first base.
Lawrence County capped off the rally with a two-run homer.
“That’s been kind of our downfall the whole year,” South Pike head coach J.T. Thomas said. “We gave up several runs in the first inning. It’s just hard for us to catch up after that. We make some pretty good plays. We make some good pitches. Youth — we’ve got a lot of young people.”
South Pike runners reached base in the bottom of the second and fourth innings, but they were left stranded.
Leonard had a one-out walk in the bottom of the first while Jeremiah McCarty came in as a pinch runner. Keshun Nimox struck out and Justin Klunk hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Nimox hit a one-out double in the bottom of the fourth and Klunk reached on an error. Christian Ming and Darryl Holloway struck out to end the rally and game.
“That’s our problem,” Thomas said. “We haven’t really got our batting order figured out as far as what we need to do. We’ve got different players in different games stepping up and putting the ball in play, but we’re having a hard time scoring runs.”
Lawrence County struck out the side in the bottom of the second and the South Pike hitters were retired in order in the third.
South Pike gave itself a chance to stay in the game with defensive plays.
Lawrence County’s batter hit a line drive off Eagles third baseman Jesse Jordan’s glove to open the top of the second. Shortstop Deonte Brumfield retrieved the ball in the outfield, relayed it to second baseman Alvie Mixon, who tagged out the runner going for a double.
South Pike did manage to retire the first two hitters in the top of the fourth beginning with a flyout to Nimox. The next batter grounded to Jordan, who got the ball to Holloway at first base in time for the out.
The doubleheader between these same two teams at Lawrence County has been moved to 4 and 6 p.m. today.
Thomas said the change was made because there is a 60 percent chance of rain Thursday.
The Cougars are 4-0 in district play but the South Pike head coach said he hopes his team will bounce back in the rematch.
“We’ve just got to play our game,” Thomas said. “They’re a good team. They hit the ball well. They have a good pitcher. They have a well-disciplined team. We were just trying to battle back and stay in the game.”
