Avant, Hixon lead Pike baseball past Autauga, big sixth inning pushes Lady Patriots to win

Chandler Avant went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles to help lead the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots past the Autauga Academy Generals 5-3 Monday afternoon at Butch Austin Field.

Avant doubled off the left field wall in the first and to the alley in left center in the fifth. The second double allowed Adam Grice to score to give Pike an insurance run.

Rush Hixon went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs for Pike as well.

“I thought we played pretty well against a really good baseball team,” said Pike head coach Butch Austin. “We saw a lot more pitches and made their pitchers work more than we have. We still have some work to do, but we are getting better.”

Pike’s Tullie Everett went the distance on the hill, striking out six batters, scattering six hits and allowing only one run after the first inning.

“Tullie has come a long way since his arm surgery,” said Austin. “Today was probably his best game I have seen him throw. He gave up some stuff early, but settled down and did what we wanted him to do.”

Softball: PLAS 11, Autauga 2: The Lady Patriots led the entire way, but used a seven-run sixth inning to blow out Autauga Academy 11-2 at Mendy Avant Field on Monday.

Pike Liberal Arts head coach Allie Park said the old baseball adage of “hitting is contagious” proved true for her team.

“It seemed like everyone in the lineup came alive in the sixth,” said Park. “We had two outs, and the bats got really hot all of a sudden. The top and the bottom of the order started putting the ball in play and put pressure on them to make the plays. We were able to take advantage of their mistakes.”

Kailee Taylor got the win in the circle for the Lady Patriots, and Park has liked what she has seen from all of her pitchers.

“KT, Ellie (Barron) and Shelby (Baggett) all have very different pitching personalities,” said Park. “They work well with one another. When one is not on, the other is. They all pick each other up, and as a coach I couldn’t ask for more from them as a staff.”