The Selma Times Journal

Some sloppy play late was the only drawback of North Atlanta High’s victory over Selma on Wednesday afternoon.

The Warriors ratcheted up the offense and scored five runs in the seventh inning, running away with a 14-5 win over the Saints.

It was a due comeback from a poor base running play in the sixth. Deandre Derico-Lewis lined out to second baseman Jeremy Phillips, starting a triple play that snuffed out North Atlanta’s rally. Phillips tagged out Draveon Morland, who was caught between first and second, and then threw across the diamond, where Jay Austin was eventually tagged after a long rundown.

A couple of errors over the final two innings put Selma runners on base and gave the Saints some hope. They rapped out three hits in the sixth, including RBI knocks by Darius Steele and Justin Brown. Three runs crossed the plate, and Selma trailed 9-5.

Then the Warriors began a scoring barrage in the final frame to put the game away.

The only other Selma runs came in the fourth inning. Darius Thigpen scored on a wild pitch, and Justin Moorer-Jones drove in a run on a ground out to second base.

The Warriors already had two runs up by the end of the first inning. Morland scored from second on an error by Steele at shortstop, and Desmond Stafford grounded out to third to bring one home.

North Atlanta had a big inning in the fourth when it put five across the plate. Ron Frost hit an RBI double, and Jaloni Jackson had an RBI single to highlight the inning’s scoring.

Austin got the win after entering in relief of starter Derico-Lewis, who lasted one inning.

T-Ray Mitchell took the loss after surrendering eight runs on three hits.