Pike Lib falls to Abbeville, knocks off Northside

After a long day of baseball, the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots and head coach Butch Austin walked off the field content.

They weren’t happy. But lived to play another day in the Jonah McWaters Tournament.

Pike dropped the opening game of the day to Abbeville Christian 7-6, in a game Austin feels the Patriots handed the Generals.

Pike Liberal committed a handful of mistakes that allowed Abbeville to build a 7-3 lead entering the final inning.

The Patriots attempted a late rally with two-run home run from Myles Loving and a double off the bat of Connor Wood.

However it wasn’t meant to be, as Pike’s Murphee Renfroe went down swinging to end the game with the tying run standing on second.

“We left over 10 men on base, and just committed a whole bunch of errors,” said Austin. “We didn’t play they way we wanted to or needed to. It’s not fun when you do that, but we will get it fixed. I promise you that.”

In the nightcap, Pike fended off elimination by dropping Northside Methodist 6-2.

Pike tied the game in the third inning on single off the bat of Drew Starling, that brought home Brian Adams. The Patriots took a 3-2 lead later in the third on a Connor Vowel single.

Following a 1-2-3 inning, with three strikes outs, from Chandler Avant in the top of the fourth, Pike padded its lead with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Hixon and Adams drew a pair of two-out walks, before Loving drilled a ball to left to bring in both runs.

Starling singled in Loving on bloop shot to right.

The game reached the 90-minute time limit with the Pats still at the plate.

“We hit the ball better tonight,” said Austin. “We still aren’t where we need to be. I know that and they know that. We have a long way to go and lot of baseball left to play. I can’t wait for Sunday to get some things cleaned up.

Pike Liberal will attempt to stave off elimination once again on Friday morning at 10 a.m. Against Springwood or Abbeville. As of press time, that game was undecided.