Spring Break brought a couple of tough results for Eupora on the baseball diamond, but coach Ben Aldridge was actually encouraged by his team’s effort and response.
After losing to two talented teams in Ripley and Lausanne in Corinth, the Eagles got back up and fought against Kosiusko and Nanih Waiya. A well-pitched game against the Whippets and a clean outing defensively against the Warriors led to a couple of wins.
“We got it done on the mound. The biggest thing was defensively against Nanih Waiya is, we didn’t have an error and that’s one of the things that has been killing us. You could feel a difference in confidence after getting that one on Tuesday (vs. Kosciusko),” Aldridge said. “We walked off the field at Spring Break and I had several kids say that we got better even though we lost. That’s where as a coach you get excited.”
Four errors against Kosciusko is just about the only compliant that Aldridge could make in a 5-3 victory at home. Eupora gave up a run in the first and the second but would build a lead to 5-2 before closing out the ball game in the seventh with just a run surrendered.
Landry Winter was dominant in his start as he pitched 6.0 strong innings, gave up three hits, one earned run, one walk and he struck out 12 batters. Dale Britt came in with two on base in the ninth and closed things down with a strikeout in 1.0 inning.
That wasn’t the only contribution that Britt had in the contest. The second baseman was 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored to lead the way for the offense. Cole Cummings finished 2-for-3 with a run as the two did some damage around the bottom of the order.
On the road against Nanih Waiya, Eupora pounded out 11 hits, held the Warriors to just four base knocks and committed no errors in a 6-3 victory. Ames Conrad held Nanih Waiya scoreless in the first 5.0 innings before getting into a bit of trouble in what was a three-run sixth.
Conrad threw 5.1 frames, gave up two hits, two runs, one earned run, three walks and three strikeouts. Britt pitched another scoreless seventh in relief.
At the plate, Winter, Conrad, Cummings and Macon Ballard all had two hits in the game.
Eupora improved to 5-10 on the season as the team is hoping to keep the good vibes rolling this week. Doing that with stormy weather in the forecast is the issue.
Monday brought heavy rains which created some question marks for the rest of the week. The Eagles were scheduled to get back into Class 2A, Region 4 play against Sepastopol on the road Tuesday night and host the Bobcats on Thursday night. A matchup with Class 7A Starkville at Eupora is on the schedule for Saturday at 2 p.m.
Things have been up and down early with Aldridge’s young team but they’ve played hard and they’re getting better each week. That’s all the coach can ask for in this time full of learning.
“We used a lot of the non-conference games to see where we are. We’ve had some guys that when opportunity has come knocking, they had to answer,” Aldridge said. ‘Kyler Kent and Dale Britt have really stepped up. Ames hasn’t been able to throw for the last couple of years because we needed him behind the plate and now he’s helping us on the mound. We’ve had guys that have stepped in and realized that they might not be playing where they want to play but they’re playing where they need to play.”
