AHSAA BASEBALL: Glenwood sweep ends St. James run in playoffs; Trinity eliminated
Braylen Corley scrambles back to first during the St. James loss to Glenwood on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
The first five batters for St. James drove in a pair of runs, but the Trojans went silent after that as Glenwood School swept a 3A quarterfinal series on Thursday at St. James.
The Gators looked impressive in rallying for a 5-2 victory in the first game and a 15-0 drubbing in the second game, but St. James coach Keith Lucky could trace his team’s misfortune to one inning in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader.
The Trojans were clinging to a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth with two outs when Mason McCraine drove a pitch from St. James starter Charlie Cutler into the outfield. Center fielder Tabor Offord came charging in and made a diving catch of the ball for the apparent third out.
Officials, however, ruled that he had trapped the ball and as Offord protested and showed the ball in his glove, courtesy runner Cameron Dawson rounded third and went home with the game-tying run. Hudson Campbell followed with a two-run double and Carter Judah added an RBI single and in a matter of moments the Trojans went from winning a defensive battle to stunned and trailing 5-2.
“One bad inning and it kind of unraveled from there,” Lucky said. “It definitely played into it. We make that catch, we get out of that inning. That one big inning is what cost us in the first ballgame.
And the demeanor of our team just changed. I don’t know if doubt set in or what happened. Our approach was completely different. It gave them a little momentum and that pitcher took advantage of it.
Tyler Sykes, rocked in the first inning as Charlie Cutler and Jimmy Dickens pounded two-out singles and Dawson Knowles followed with a two-run double, settled down and retired the next 16 batters in order -- nine by strikeout -- before Dickens singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Sykes then recovered to retire Knowles on a fly out and strike out the final two batters to end the game.
“He pounds the strike zone,” Lucky said. “He makes you put the ball in play, if you can, and that’s what happens. He did a heck of a job. He just pounded the zone. He didn’t shy away from at-bats. He had great command of his off-speed and that made his fastball look that much quicker.”
Whatever sapped the energy from the Trojans in the first game was evident throughout the second game as Campbell pitched a three hitter and Glenwood sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning for a quick 6-0 lead off St. James starter Tabor Offord.
“Bless Tabor’s heart, we can’t give up three walks and a hit batter,” Lucky said. “It was 6-0 right out of the gate and when you do that against a team like that, they’re going to put the ball in play and it’s going to yield runs for them. It kind of set the tone and we couldn’t do anything else.”
Logan Henderson cleared the bases with a bases-loaded double in the first, Campbell added a two-run single in the third and McCraine had a three-run homer in the fourth as the Gators made the most of eight hits, five walks and three hit batters by the Trojans pitchers.
The Trojans managed just three hits in a game shortened to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule and two of those hits came in a three-up, three-down third inning after two of the base runners were thrown out by McCraine.
Glenwood (30-4) advances to the semifinals next week, either at home against area rival Lee-Scott or on the road at Prattville Christian.
St. James, meanwhile, ends the season at 20-12 after a late-season dropoff that saw the Trojans lose six of their final 10 games, St. James made it past the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year and earned its seventh consecutive trip to the state playoffs despite early-season injuries to senior starters Braylen Corley and Wils Johnson.
“The thing that is encouraging is two of my seniors were hurt much of the season,” Lucky said. “Wils Johnson never did play and Braylen was out at the beginning of the season, came back at area time and broke his hand at third base and was out. I’ve got a good bunch returning next year and hopefully they can learn. The hardest thing you’ve got to get across to young men this day and time is they’ve got to handle adversity.”
Oak Grove sweeps Trinity
OAK GROVE - The Wildcats faced who many considered the favorite to win the Class 4A title this season but were in position to win the first game of the doubleheader on Thursday.
But the Tigers scored three runs with two outs in the seventh to secure a 4-3 victory. They followed that with a 10-0 win in five innings in the second game to advance to the 4A semifinals.
Payton Mitchell had a two-run single in the first game for Trinity.
Oak Grove (30-2) will face either Tallassee or Bibb County in the semis next week.