Morgan sweeps doubleheader
Published 12:16 am Wednesday, April 8, 2009
When Morgan and Prattville Christian met on Tuesday, the Senators had been out of action for more than two weeks.
After displaying their rust for three innings, the Senators pieced together three multiple-run innings to take a 13-3 win in six innings in the first half of a doubleheader.
“I’m glad we won,” said Morgan coach Lothian Smallwood. “It’s always a relief to win. We weren’t as sharp as a I thought we were before this rain came in.”
Morgan got on the board first with a two-out Thorpe single that scored Hughes in the bottom of the third inning.
The Panthers responded in the fourth when Nick Hoots stole third base and scored on a wild throw to knot the score at 1-1.
Morgan dominated the rest of the way, scoring three runs in the fourth and four in the second to break the tie and take an 8-1 lead into the sixth.
Despite the lead, it looked like the game would go all seven innings. An Austin Anders flyout and Forrest Hughes groundout made virtually ruled out an early finish.
But singles from Conner Thorpe and Johnny Watts mixed with walks to Thomas Austin, and walks to Jay Gilmer and Ryan Traylor extended the lead to 10-3. Reid Fondren followed with a hit-and-run single to plate Watts, Gilmer and Traylor for the win.
“That wasn’t a called play,” Smallwood explained. “With a 3-2 count and two out, you start running everybody then. It just so happened he had a base hit.
The game ended in a way Prattville Christian coach Allen Stuart has seen far too often. The Panthers gave up seven runs after two outs, including the five that ended the first game.
“It’s the story of our season all year,” said Stuart. “Our errors killed us.”
The Senators dominated game two as well with a 15-6 win. Ryan Traylor led Morgan with two hits, including a first inning grand slam to give Morgan a 5-0 lead. Johnny Watts added three hits, Jake Gilmer collected two hits and four RBIs and Reid Fondren finished with two hits and four RBIs.
Thorpe earned the win and Taylor Copeland earned a save.