St. Al gets sweep of Puckett|[04/09/08]

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Everybody in a St. Aloysius pinstripe uniform got in their swings at Warren Central’s Viking Field in the second game of a doubleheader with the Puckett Wolves.

St. Al made use of 10 Puckett errors to pound out a 14-1 win in six innings and maintain a tie with Stringer for first place in Division 6-1A. St. Al also won the first game Tuesday, 6-0.

“Anytime you can win two baseball games, even if you’re in a graveyard, it’s a good thing. I liked playing here and I really liked how we played today. I think this is the best we’ve played in three weeks,” St. Al coach Clint Wilkerson said. “The defense was excellent. We pitched well and I thought we hit the ball hard.”

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Wilkerson also liked that he was able to get all 16 players dressed an at-bat. Many had not swung a bat all season because the Flashes have been unable to play any junior varsity games this spring.

“It was great to get those guys an at-bat. I love it. It helps the morale,” Wilkerson said.

Brendan Beesley said the Flashes (15-5, 8-1) brought a refurbished attitude to their new temporary home at WC as their regular home at Bazinsky Field is being repaired after Friday’s storm.

“We were an intense group today. We definitely wanted to put some runs up and that can happen when everyone does their job,” said Beesley, who went 2-for-4, including a two-run triple to highlight a six-run fifth inning that broke the game open.

Coupled with Monday’s 11-1 win at Pelahatchie, the Flashes have now won three straight since their lost Saturday afternoon when they dropped a doubleheader on March 29.

Beesley said the club addressed some leadership issues.

“We may not have any seniors but then that means there is nobody’s last game out there. Everyone has stepped up. We have nine leaders,” Beesley said.

Puckett (5-8) was hanging around in the third inning of game two Tuesday, down 4-1, when it appeared to score a run off starter Joseph Brown. The Flashes caught a break when Blake Pagert was called for runner interference after St. Al shortstop Ryno Martin-Nez bounced a relay throw off Pagert’s helmet on force out at second. Pagert did not slide into the bag and Tyler Dickerson’s run was disallowed, leaving the score at 4-1.

St. Al broke it open in the fifth. Sean Weaver led off with a double and was followed by a walk, a hit batter and an error. A dropped fly ball sent home another run to make it 7-1.

Beesley tripled to right to score two more for a 9-1 lead. Beesley then scored on Pierson Waring’s grounder to second for a 10-1 edge.

Waring got his third RBI of the game with a single in the sixth.

St. Al 6, Puckett 0

Stephen Evans tossed a complete game shutout to lead the Flashes past Puckett in game one.

St. Al built a 4-0 lead through three innings getting an RBI hit from Brenden Beesley in the first inning. Beesley added a run scored in the fourth and knocked in the team’s last run in the sixth.

Vicksburg 22, Callaway 1

Stanton Price drove in six runs off a grand slam home run, a double and a single as the Gators won their 10th straight.

Price’s homer was his seventh of the season. Vicksburg strengthened its lead in Division 3-4A going to 10-1 and they are now 17-5 overall heading into Thursday’s clash with Ridgeland.

Jacob Thomas scattered six hits and got the win to move to 4-1. He struck out six in five innings of work. Blake Hynum finished with a triple and a single. Trey Prentiss had two hits and Keeton Jones added a triple.