PCA overwhelms Rebul in two-game sweep|[3/29/06]
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 29, 2006
It didn’t take long to determine the outcome of Porters Chapel’s doubleheader with Rebul on Tuesday.
Within four pitches, PCA had scored three runs. For the rest of the first inning it only seemed like the Eagles were keeping up with the pitch count of Rebul starter Don McKee.
PCA sent 20 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first, collected 13 hits and scored 14 runs on the way to an easy 15-0 win in game one of the twinbill. The game was stopped in the bottom of the third by the mercy rule.
Cole Smith threw a three-inning perfect game for the Eagles (12-5, 4-0 District 4-A). He struck out six and didn’t allow a ball out of the infield. Smith also helped his own cause by going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, including the game-ender in the bottom of the third.
“It was real fun,” Smith said. “It was like batting practice. You just try to hit line drives every pitch.”
The Eagles continued their onslaught in game two, only more effectively.
They scored 18 runs before making an out in the first inning, and nine after pinch-hitting for their starters. In all, the Eagles smashed 15 hits and scored 24 runs in the first frame and didn’t bat in the second, taking a 24-0 victory.
Chris Mixon, Michael Busby, Hayden Hales and Dan Ivey all had two hits apiece in PCA’s outburst. Brady Towne struck out six of the seven batters he faced to earn a very abbreviated no-hitter. One Rebul batter reached on an error.
In the first game, PCA went to work immediately and finished off the Raiders in a little over an hour.
After Smith retired Rebul in order in the top of the first inning, he led off with a single and Busby was hit by a pitch on the first offering from McKee. Moose Carney then belted the first pitch he saw over the left centerfield fence for a three-run homer, and the rout was on.
Hayden Hales and Matt Cranfield each delivered RBI triples in the inning, Busby had an inside-the-park home run on his second trip to the plate and Towne had a pair of RBI singles.
Even little-used backup Tim Warren got into the act, coming through with an RBI double and a sacrifice fly in a rare start.
Rebul didn’t record an out until Smith hit a short fly to right in his second at-bat of the inning. It fell in, but Mixon was caught in between first and second and was thrown out – after he had gone all the way to second, back to first, and then three-quarters of the way back to second.
The Raiders finally escaped the inning when PCA coach Randy Wright substituted several junior varsity players into the lineup, but the Eagles finished it with the one run in the third.
Tallulah 6, River Oaks 2.
Clayton Holmes’ two-run triple keyed a five-run fifth inning for Tallulah Academy and sent the Trojans to a 6-2 win over River Oaks. Holmes’ hit gave Tallulah (6-8, 2-2 District 7-A) a 3-2 lead, and he later scored on an error.
Tony Erwin also tripled for the Trojans and finished with two hits. Tallulah will host Huntington at 4 p.m. on Friday.
VHS-Greenville game a no-go.
The Vicksburg Gators scheduled division game against Greenville on Tuesday night was canceled because Greenville could not get a bus.