Errors haunt PCA in opening defeat|[3/1/05]
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Porters Chapel played its first game Monday night on a muddy field without its best player and committed 11 errors.
Somehow, the Eagles still had a chance to beat Indianola.
Indianola scored three runs on two Eagle errors in the top of the eighth, then retired PCA quietly in the bottom of the inning for a 13-10 win.
“That’s the first baseball team I have coached at Porters Chapel to commit 11 errors,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. “We didn’t get it done tonight. We can make excuses that we’re young and inexperienced, and that the ground is wet, but the bottom line is we didn’t get it done.”
PCA, which had two games rained out last week and another rescheduled, was supposed to travel to Indianola on Monday, but the field in the Delta was too wet and the game was moved to Vicksburg. The Eagles also played their first game of the season without standout Michael Busby.
The sophomore, the only current PCA player who saw playing time last season, injured his ankle in a pickup basketball game and is day-to-day.
“Michael is an outstanding player and he makes us a better team when he is on the field,” Wright said. “We know what happened to him was very unfortunate and we can’t wait to get him back.”
Busby is the team’s top returning hitter, but without him the Eagles plastered Indianola pitcher Kimble Farmer.
Dean Hill’s fourth-inning, three-run home run and Dan Ivey’s two RBI singles helped the Eagles take a 9-5 lead.
PCA added another run on an RBI single by Hayden Hales in the fifth before Indianola relievers shut the door.
John Randall Wales and Tony Domino combined to pitch four innings of relief, allowed one run and one hit.
“They came in and threw strikes and that’s all we can ask them to do,” Indianola (1-2) coach Clete Putnam said. “We picked it up a little with those guys on the mound and found a way to win.”
Domino struck out six in three innings and allowed one base hit to earn the win. Spencer Pell took the loss in relief.
Pell doubled and Moose Carney hit a pair of singles for PCA.
The Eagles are scheduled to play again today at home against Sharkey-Issaquena.
“We have to clean things up quick,” Wright said. “We have a big district game that we cannot afford to lose. If we come out and make 11 erros tomorrow, it’s going to be a battle.”