After an 11-1 start to the season, Winston Academy baseball fell upon some adversity last week that should challenge the team as District 2-AAA play heats up this week.
The Patriots followed up a big two weeks of games by traveling and coming away empty handed. WA lost at Oak Hill and Indianola Academy and tied with Pillow Academy to drop to 11-2-1 on the year.
The recent stretch of early deficits continued with the game against Oak Hill as the Patriots fell behind 4-1 in the first inning and were down 10-3 after two with the threat of a run-rule closing in. As they’ve grown accustomed to doing this season, WA fought back with a run in each of the third and fourth innings to cut it to 10-5. In the seventh and with their backs against the wall, WA put three runs on the board but ran out of outs as Oak Hill took a 10-8 victory.
After giving up the 10 spot in the first two innings, WA held the Raiders scoreless for four innings to close the game.
After that tough loss on Friday, WA went to Indianola Academy for a double-header with the host Colonels and Pillow. The Patriots lost the games against Indianola 16-6 and then tied Pillow 2-2 as weather forced a quick ending to the ball game.
Winston is led at the plate this season by eighth grader Hayze Gregory who is batting .571. Noah Dempsey is batting .469 with 15 hits, 11 RBI, two doubles and two triples. They’re also getting a great start to the season from freshman Spencer Wilson who is .464 with 14 RBI and three doubles. Josh Mcginnis is .474 with a team-high 18 hits and 16 RBI.
On the mound, Bryce Waggoner is 4-0 with a 3.15 ERA. His 13.1 innings are a team high and he’s struck out nine batters. Freshman Brylee Wall leads the team with 14 strikeouts in 10.2 innings.
Up next is a key week to the season for the Patriots traveled to Starkville Academy on Tuesday for a double-header against the Volunteers and they’ll finish off the three-game set by hosting SA on Thursday. At 2-1 in the division, the Patriots are right there at the top of the district with a chance to compete for a championship, but this stretch is important.
They have three-game series with Leake Academy and Heritage over the next two weeks following and those will prove to be the difference in winning the division or not.
