THURSDAY PREPS: LAMP baseball topples MA; ACA, Prattville garner wins
MA shortstop Bray Renfroe throws to first over LAMP Josh Donaldson in Thursday’s matchup. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Both teams followed a common theme on Thursday when Montgomery Academy traveled to LAMP for a baseball game.
For Montgomery Academy, struggles to find the key hit continued, while LAMP maintained its clutch hitting on Thursday in a 9-2 win over the Eagles.
Montgomery Academy loaded the bases twice, including the top of the first with no outs, but managed just one run the first time and none the second time, going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
“That’s been our Achilles’ heel all year,” Montgomery Academy coach Stephen Vosel said. “The amount of times we’ve left the bases loaded has been a lot. And we’ve just got to fix that. Me looking at the positive of it, we know how to get the bases loaded, we know how to get on base, we’ve just got to finish it. I don’t know if we start pressing or what it is, but we’ve just got to come up with that big hit. Once we do that, hitting is contagious.”
It was particularly frustrating for a team that thought it had turned a corner in a 14-1 rout of Tallassee on Tuesday, only to relive some of the same struggles, scoring their only runs on a groundout and a wild pitch.
“We did the complete opposite of what we did the last game,” Vosel said. “We load the bases in the last game and double off the wall, single, walks, that sort of thing. We’ve just got to figure out a way to get that big hit.”
Rick McBride doubled to lead off the game and LAMP starter Caden Carpenter followed McBride’s double by walking Parker Cook and hitting Will Hardin with a pitch, but struck out Oscar Fiore and retired Walton Norrell on a groundout that scored McBride. After hitting Tom Main with a pitch to load the bases once again, Carpenter retired Bray Renfroe on a groundout to leave the score at 1-0.
“We got out of a couple of tough jams which could have tilted this thing,” LAMP coach Frank Parsons said. “Our pitchers compete and they’re mentally tough. Our pitchers have stepped up and put us in a great position to win.”
Carpenter would allow just four more hits over the next four innings, pitching out of another bases-loaded jam in the fourth before allowing Hardin to score on a wild pitch after leading off the fifth with a double. Josh Bell pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning.
LAMP, meanwhile, scored eight of its nine runs with two outs, getting three runs in the first, three more in the fourth and three in the sixth.
“They did a great job hitting today, especially with runners in scoring position,” Vosel said.
Andrew Lutz went 2 for 4, scored three times and drove in a run, Grayson Hall went 3 for 4, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs and Josh Donaldson went 2 for 4.
“The power is in one through six but we’ve got some players who can finesse and seven-eight-nine often come up with a big hit,” Parsons said. “They love to pull the trigger and good things happen when you put the ball in play.”
Five of the six runs scored by LAMP in the first and sixth innings were unearned as a result of five errors by the Eagles.
“We did not play clean today,” Vosel said. “I thought we pitched very well but defensively we did not play clean, which we have been doing most of the season.”
LAMP (11-2) is scheduled to play host to Prattville Christian on Friday and will travel to Prattville to play the Panthers on Saturday.
Montgomery Academy (6-4) will play at Pike Road on Thursday.
BASEBALL
Alabama Christian 12, Tallassee 5
Mac Moorer and Landon Nelson both drove in a pair of runs as the Eagles defeated Tallassee 12-5 on Thursday at the AUM Baseball Complex.
Hayes Hunt went 2 for 4 with an RBI and was the winning pitcher as well, striking out seven and allowed just three hits and three earned runs in six innings.
Moorer went 2 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs, Preston Hicks went 2 for 3 with an RBI, Nelson went 1 for 4 and drove in a pair of runs and Ari Bowman went 2 for 4 with an RBI.
Alabama Christian travels to Brew Tech for a game on Friday before opening play in the Gulf Coast Classic at Gulf Shores on Monday against Little Rock Christian Academy.
Catholic 11-7, Booker T. Washington 1-0
The Knights opened up 4A Area 4 play with a doubleheader sweep of Booker T. Washington on Thursday, beating the Eagles 11-1 in the opening game and 7-0 in the nightcap.
Josh Palmer and Alex Fleet each had one hit to lead the Catholic offense in the first game, while Justin Rose was the winning pitching, allowing two hits and a run in 3.2 innings while striking out six and walking one.
Curtis Calhoun took the loss, allowing 10 runs on one hit in 3.2 innings of work.
In the second game, Andrew Noell and Caden Ishman combined to throw a shutout. Noell allowed just one hit over five innings while striking out eight and walking none.
Catholic broke open the game with a three-run fifth highlighted by RBIs from Hudson Parrish and Caleb McCreary.
Kandarius Green went 2 for 3 to lead Booker T. Washington.
Catholic (9-6) improved to 2-0 in area play and will play host to Brew Tech on Monday.
Prattville 9-5, Opelika 12-2
PRATTVILLE -- The Lions split a doubleheader with the Bulldogs on Wednesday at Roger Lambert Field, losing the first game 12-9 before salvaging a split with a 5-2 win in the second game.
In the opener, the Lions fell behind early 7-0 and closed the gap to 7-5 in the bottom of the fourth. Again, after falling behind 12-5, they clawed back to a 12-9 gap with the tying run on first in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to capitalize.
Offensive leaders included junior Ashton Cannon, who went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk and three RBIs, while senior Drew Jolley went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, two RBIs and a run scored.
Junior Andrew Hicks (1-2) started on the mound and allowed five runs, two earned, on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks in 1.2 innings. Senior Will Baskin threw 1.1 innings, giving up two runs with a strikeout and a walk, while junior Nate Lunsford pitched two innings and allowed four runs, three earned, with five hits and a strikeout. Senior Braeden Smith pitched the final two innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits while striking out two, hitting one and walking one.
The Lions bounced back in the second game with strong defense and solid pitching by junior Zack Ervie (3-1), who earned the win in surrendering just two runs, one earned, on five hits with two strikeouts and a walk in 4.2 innings. Junior Grant Williams held the lead with no runs on no hits while striking out two and walking one in 1.1 innings and sophomore Mason Piper pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up the save with one hit and a strikeout, getting a groundout to second with a runner on to end the game.
A leadoff single by senior Tanner Vance, an RBI double by senior Clayton Smith and a sacrifice fly put the Lions up 2-0 in the bottom of the first. In the second inning, a two-out single by Vance, an error, and two wild pitches scored both Vance and Smith. The Bulldogs pulled within 4-2 in the fifth inning, but a strikeout by Williams with a runner on third ended the threat. The Lions answered back in the sixth with a leadoff walk by Smith and a bunt single by Jolley, with Smith scoring on an error for a 5-2 lead.
Vance went 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored and Smith went 1 for 2 with a double, two walks and three RBIs.
The Lions (10-6) return to action on Saturday at Pell City for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.
Bessemer Academy 3, Lowndes Academy 2
A fifth-inning error led Bessemer Academy to a win over Lowndes Academy on Thursday.
Jackson Carmichael surrendered two runs on eight hits over five innings, striking out two and walking one to lead Bessemer to a win over the Rebels.
Lowndes Academy’s Clayton Hussey allowed four hits and three runs over four and a third innings, striking out one and walking one.
The Rebels had eight hits in the game. Walker McQueen went 3-for-3 and Grant Casey added two hits for Lowndes Academy.
BOYS SOCCER
Trinity 3, Catholic 0
Jackson Champion scored three goals, including two on penalty kicks, and goalkeeper Carter Younger preserved the shutout with five saves as the Wildcats won their 10th consecutive game with a 3-0 win at Catholic on Thursday.
Trinity improved to 6-0 in 4A Area 2 play with the win.
Champion’s other goal came on an assist by Will Owen.
Trinity (10-4-1) will take two weeks off for spring break, returning to action with a pair of area games at Ragsdale-Boykin Field against LAMP on March 28 and Catholic on March 30.
GIRLS SOCCER
St. James 6, Central-Phenix City 0
Katie Brightwell scored five goals and assisted on the sixth as the Trojans shut out the 7A Red Devils 6-0 on Thursday at Carlisle Field.
Mary Grace Hixon started the scoring by finishing off a thru ball from Brightwell. Katie Irving recorded an assist on the second goal by starting the counter with a quick punt to send Brightwell in to goal. Riley Purcell, Hixon, Natalie Barton and Addison Barber each contributed the remaining assists for the game.
The Trojan defense recorded their third shutout of the season led by Hope and Hannah McCain.
St. James will take a week off for spring break, resuming play on March 30 at home against Opelika at 5:30 p.m.