ACA players greet Chase Davis after his two-run homer in the first inning of Game 2 against UMS-Wright on Friday. (Staff Photo)

Staff Report
(May 8, 2010)

All season, Alabama Christian Academy coach Don Gilliam had preached the virtuous message of two-out hits to his baseball team.

For the most part, all season, they had listened and followed instruction.

On Friday, that message wasn’t fulfilled.

The Eagles (29-10) were eliminated from playoff contention in a doubleheader loss to UMS-Wright (31-6). The Bulldogs beat ACA, 8-7 and 5-4, to advance to the Class 4A state championship round next week.

“Let me tell you what this (series) was,” Gilliam said as though he was bellowing from a pulpit. “I told them all year it was going to be about two-out base hits. You win and lose ball games with them. Tonight, they got them and we didn’t.”

The Eagles saw their hopes end with several opportunities to cash in but the most glaring came in Game 2. After tying the game at 4-4 on a sacrifice fly by Chase Davis, ACA had runners at second and third with one out but could not score.

Gilliam considered a suicide squeeze play but he believed he had the best chance to swing away.

“I thought about it but I had two seniors coming up there and they can swing the bat,” Gilliam said. “I liked our chances.”

UMS starter Evan Grovenstein got strikeouts to preserve the tie using the outside part of the plate as his ally.  Nearly every pitch in a sequence to the ACA batters painted the corner.

“From Tuesday to Thursday (in practice), we set up chairs in the outfield and didn’t pull a ball,” Gilliam said. “We worked on hitting to the right side. I talked with three coaches and the scouting report said they would pitch that way all evening.”

Davis had a two-run homer in the first inning that gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead. He finished with four hits in the series.

Like Game 2, the first game came down to the last inning. After the two teams battled back and forth, the Bulldogs took a three-run lead in the top of the seventh with a key single from Will Majure. ACA battled back to score two in its half of the inning but left the tying run on third base.

In Game 1, Alex Guilford lost for the first time this season, giving up nine hits.

For the third straight year, ACA lost in the semifinals. But Gilliam said a group that he began work with back in 2007 left a legacy for future teams to remember.

“This group of seniors started together when they were in the ninth grade,” Gilliam said. “I remember when they came in… we cut a few upper classmen because we thought this group as a unit would be something special and they were.

“That’s the winningest class I’ve had in a long time.”