Patriots survive and advance
Published 3:00 am Saturday, April 9, 2016
The Pike junior varsity Patriots went 2-1 in the state tournament on Friday to advance to day three on Saturday. The Patriots lost their first game 6-5 to Edgewood, but battled back to get wins over Glenwood 9-8 and Lee Scott 4-0.
In game one the Patriots jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Wildcats, but Edgewood scored six unanswered runs in the final two innings to secure the win, sending the Patriots into the losers bracket.
After the Patriots scored five runs in the first three innings, Valdez believes his team got to preoccupied with the amount of time remaining in the 1 hour 45 minute time limit.
Cole McWhorter finished with one hit and one RBI, as did Trevor Barron. Max Copeland and Jade Sikes all had hits for the Patriots, while Ty Singleton picked up a RBI.
Sikes took the mound for the Patriots in game one. He lasted 3.1 innings allowing four earned runs on three hits. Tristen Carter and Holt Steed pitched the remaining third of an inning.
After the Patriots scored one run in the first on a walk by Singleton to score Davis Allen, the Patriots had their big inning in the second when they put three runs on the board.
Allen singled to left field, allowing Cody Hollis to score on a throw back into the infield and Barron scored on an error by the pitcher. McWhorter singled in Allen to close out the scoring.
The Patriots scored one final run in the third inning on a RBI single by Barron bringing in Copeland to give Pike a 5-2 lead heading into what would be the final inning after Edgewood scored a run in the bottom of the third.
The Patriots walked five batters in the bottom of the inning including the winning run with the bases loaded to give them the win.
The Patriots bounced back in game two and won an offensive shootout against Glenwood.
Jackson Blair and Hollis both picked up a two hits to lead the Patriots, with Blair picking up a two RBIs.
Payne Griffin walked three batters and Glenwood took an early 4-0 lead in the first. The Patriots came right out in the bottom half of the inning and scored three runs on a pair of doubles by Sikes and McWhorter to cut the Patriots deficit to 4-3.
Barron shut the door in the top half of the second inning sending his team back in the dugout. They scored three more runs on another double by Barron and a single by Blair to give them a 6-4 lead heading into the third.
With the score 7-5 heading into the final frame, Glenwood scored three runs to take a one run lead.
Blair singled to begin the inning and after Sikes flied out to left field and McWhorter was hit by a pitch, Copeland singled in Blair to even the score at eight. McWhorter then came up scored on a wild pitch to win the game.
Steed and Allen combined to pitch all five innings in Pike’s win over Lee Scott. Steed didn’t allow a hit over three innings and had five strikeouts and Allen allowed just one hit over two innings.
Barron and finished the game going 2-3 with an RBI. Carter also picked up two hits on the night.
The Patriots advance to take on Patrician at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.