St. James coach Lucky picks up milestone victory

Keith Lucky (13) picked up his 400th career win on Saturday in the St. James Trojans’ win over Montgomery Academy. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

The first opportunity was rained out.

The second was fading in a flurry of miscues and wild pitches.

But St. James regathered itself, used some late-inning gifts from Montgomery Academy, and rallied to beat the Eagles 3-2 on Saturday and hand head coach Keith Lucky his 400th career coaching victory in the process.

“There are a lot of people who have helped me tremendously as a young coach,” said Montgomery Academy coach Stephen Vosel, who first faced Lucky as a player under Ken Whittle at Trinity in the late 2000s. “Obviously, Coach Whittle at Trinity and then Coach Lucky has been so big for me. He and I had a relationship when I played and when I came here and got the job, he said, ‘Anything I can do to help, just let me know.’ 

“It does not surprise me he’s won that many games. He teaches and coaches the game the right way. I love playing his teams. Regardless of who they’ve got (in terms of talent), I know they’re going to play the game right, they’re going to play hard and we’re going to get better when we face a team like that.” 

Lucky first arrived at St. James in the late 1990s as an assistant under Joe Justice and Saturday’s game was his 746th as a Trojan, compiling a 512-233-1 record in the process. He took over as head coach in 2004 and is 400-194 in 18 seasons.

“It’s a blessing I’ve been at St. James as long as I have,” Lucky said. “And the reason I’ve been able to get to 400 is because I’ve had quality baseball players throughout the years.”

The players knew nothing about the milestone and it’s a good thing no one was counting because a doubleheader against Robert E. Lee was rained out on Friday and Saturday’s game found the Trojans trailing heading into the sixth inning before a throwing error allowed the game-tying and game-winning runs to score.

“One thing we’ve been talking about is maintaining our energy, effort and focus,” Vosel said. “I think sometimes, for whatever reason, we always have an inning or two in a game where we lose that focus a little bit and it’ll come back to get us.”

The first four innings featured a scoreless pitching duel between Montgomery Academy’s Britton Kohn and St. James’ Tyson Eley. Kohn did not allow a hit, striking out six of the 14 batters he faced.

“That’s probably the best he’s looked,” Vosel said. “I mean, he’s been great all year but overall, that’s probably his best overall outing -- complete control of his fastball, his breaking ball, his two-seam had a little action today and he did a great job of being able to locate it in any count.”

Eley was almost as impressive over the first four innings, allowing only a first-inning single to Kohn while striking out five of the 13 batters he faced.

“That’s two seniors out there that’s taking advantage of getting to play this wonderful game,” Lucky said. “It got snatched out from under them last year (during the suspension of play for coronavirus) as juniors. I like it when (Eley) comes to me and says, ‘Coach, I want to pitch.’ That’s always a big plus when I’ve got guys who want to be out there. And he did a heck of a job out there today.”

Montgomery Academy broke the scoreless tie in the fifth when Rick McBride had a two-out infield single and Ridge Lindsey followed with a grounder that went off of Eley’s glove. Shortstop Carson Howard overran the ball, second baseman Ethan Beard finally fielded it and threw wide of home plate in an effort to get McBride.

Lindsey went to second on the play and scored on a pair of wild pitches for a 2-0 lead.

Owen McNeal singled in pinch runner Kevin Taylor in the bottom of the fifth, but reliever Harris Gowan escaped a bases-loaded threat as the Eagles maintained the lead. That lead evaporated an inning later when Michael Winn drew a two-out walk. Courtesy runner Shaun Bridges took off for second on a pitch to Clint Shores and MA catcher Parker Cook threw over third baseman Judson Lindsey’s head trying to catch Carson Howard off of third base.

Howard came home to tie the game and Shores followed with a single to drive in Bridges with the game-winning run. 

“We’ve been making mistakes and errors all year long,” Lucky said. “That’s the one thing that has driven me crazy this year. This is probably one of the best games we’ve played in that we kept battling even when it wasn’t perfect. I was proud of them for not hanging their heads and going on to the next pitch.”

St. James (14-8) remains home to play Holtville on Monday, while Montgomery Academy (5-6-1) travels to Elmore County on Monday.