Last week’s ball games for Winston Academy felt like the same song and a different verse for Charlie Smith.
The Patriots were in position to have success against a talented Simpson Academy team but defense was a major issue hindering them from doing it. It kept the team from taking the series against the district champions and further frustrated the coach.
“We just don’t play defense well enough. If we could play defense, we’d be about 27-4,” Smith said. “Our short stop has been hurt all district schedule and we just haven’t been able to make it work. We had a chance to win all three ball games and didn’t play well enough on defense. We just seem to make mistakes at the most inopportune times. The lack of defense has hurt our pitchers too because they have to try to strike guys out.”
The Patriots took one of the games on the week, but dropped the other two contests against SA.
In game one at Mendenhall, WA was battling. The Patriots trailed just 3-2 heading into the sixth innings when things got tough. Simpson scored four runs in the bottom of that frame and it pushed the lead out and made it difficult to come back in what would be a 7-2 loss.
WA had seven hits in the game and saw two-hit performances from Trey Williamson and Max Fulcher. Hayze Gregory added a double in the game for the only multi-base hit. Dalton Powell threw the first 5.1 innings and gave up 10 hits, five runs and a walk and struck out five.
In game two, the Patriots were in a major hole. Simpson scored seven runs in the second inning but the WA offense was not going to stop fighting. Thanks to a five-run second inning that got them back in the game, WA stayed hanging around and returned the favor in the sixth inning with a three-run frame to take home the 9-8 win.
In the 10-hit ball game, WA had two hits each from Brylee Wall, Jett Joiner and Dalton Powell. Wall had three RBI and Powell two while Powell also hit a home run. Aiden Fancher, Joiner and Williamson all barreled up doubles in the win.
Wall gave up four hits, eight runs and six walks in 4.0 innings pitched but just two of his runs were earned. Behind him, the bullpen and the defense helped win the game. Gregory threw 2.0 scoreless and hitless innings with a walk and two strikeouts and Fancher pitched a seventh inning with just one walk and three strikeouts.
The rubber match in Mendenhall didn’t go the Patriots way as they dropped a 5-2 game. The team had just five hits with two coming from Gregory as he also drove in both of the runs.
The series loss dropped the Patriots to 17-13 overall and 7-8 in district play to end the regular season. It’s now time for the playoffs and the Patriots have the tough task of going head to head with the defending Class 4A state champions in Magnolia Heights.
“For us to have a chance we have to catch the ball and make the routine out. We have five or six guys we can run out there in the ball game and we can swing it against anybody. But when we make mistakes, it pours,” Smith said. “We lost seven district ball games that if we could have cut a couple of errors out we could have won all of them.”
The Patriots were scheduled to host game one on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. in Louisville. Game two will be Thursday at Magnolia Heights at 4 p.m. with an if necessary game to follow.
