Sports Writer

In what may have been

the crossroads for the rest of the season, the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots battled hard but dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision in eight innings to the Glenwood School Gators in the first game of an important Alabama Independent School Association Class 3A East Region doubleheader at Phenix City Friday afternoon.

With the loss, the Patriots sunk to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in region play as their attempt to make the AISA State Baseball Playoffs for the first time since 1998 starts to fade quickly.

The Patriots wasted an outstanding pitching performance by junior Layton Sanders. Sanders went the distance allowing just one earned run on four hits while walking two and striking out six batters. Two of the three runs the Gators scored was unearned.

Meanwhile, the Patriots were plagued by poor clutch hitting as they were only able to manage just two runs on three hits. Luke Sanders, Brandon Hooks and Drew Kilpatrick each had one hit for PLAS in a losing cause.

In the second game, the Patriots never recovered from their first game disappointment as they fell to Glenwood 7-1.

Brandon Hooks started and was charged with the loss for PLAS. The lone bright spots of the second game was a solid relief effort by Matt Floyd and eighth grader Kyle Golden’s RBI double.

PLAS head coach Butch Austin said the inability to come through with big hits in clutch situations proved to be costly for the Patriots.

"We didn’t hit the ball well at all," Austin said. "We couldn’t get a big hit when we needed it. We had the bases loaded twice and couldn’t get any runs in. That was the story of the game. We had some good pitching. Layton pitched his best game in a long time. But we have to start hitting."

In fast pitch softball, things didn’t go too well for the Lady Patriots as they were drilled by Glenwood in both games 13-1. The Lady Patriots dropped to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in region play.

The Patriots return to action this Monday afternoon when they travel to Greenville to face Fort Dale Academy. The first pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. at the Beeland Park Recreation Complex.