Baseball Roundup: St. Al walks off Park Place; Tallulah’s McDaniel, PCA’s Massey and Hearn throw no-hitters
Published 12:20 am Friday, March 8, 2024
St. Aloysius’ baseball team snapped a long losing streak in dramatic fashion.
Laken Bradley scored the winning run on a throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give St. Al a 7-6 walk-off victory against Park Place Christian Academy on Thursday.
The Flashes (3-6) trailed 6-2 entering the bottom of the fifth inning. Bradley hit an RBI double and scored on Carson Smith’s single to cut it to 6-4, and then a three-run rally in the seventh completed the comeback.
A walk and three singles spurred the seventh-inning rally. The last hit, by Smith, tied the game at 6 and moved Bradley to second base.
Barrett Shows then hit a comebacker to the mound that Park Place’s Peyton Bray knocked down. The pitcher quickly gathered the ball and threw to first base, but the throw got past Ben Blaylock.
Bradley, who had advanced to third when the ball was hit, hustled home with the winning run — and then up the first base line to mob Shows along with the rest of his teammates.
Bradley finished 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored for the Flashes, and Walt Andrews drove in two runs. Smith was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and one run scored.
Keller Bradley earned the win on the mound with 3 1/3 innings of outstanding relief work. He allowed four walks, but only one hit and one unearned run. He had eight strikeouts.
Bray was 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored for Park Place.
St. Al snapped a six-game losing streak. It will play two games early in spring break week, both on the road. On Monday it will go to Bastrop, Louisiana, to play Prairie View Academy at 6:30 p.m. On Tuesday it’ll go just across town to face Vicksburg High, also at 6:30 p.m.
Tallulah Academy 9, Briarfield 0
J.T. McDaniel threw a no-hitter on the mound, and hit two doubles and scored four runs at the plate, to lead Tallulah Academy (7-4) to a shutout win against Briarfield Academy.
McDaniel retired the first 11 batters he faced before Ryder Jones reached on an error with two outs in the fourth inning to spoil the bid for a perfect game.
Jones was the only Briarfield batter who reached base. McDaniel did not walk a batter and struck out 14 in his dominant outing.
Tallulah’s hitters gave him plenty of support, too, by scoring four runs in the first inning, two more in the second and two in the third.
McDaniel hit an RBI double and scored on a single by Hayes Hopkins in the second inning, then walked and scored on another single by Hopkins in the third that made it 8-0.
Hopkins finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Luke Moberley singled twice and scored three runs, and Tripp Gayle had two RBIs.
Tallulah will play a home-and-home series with Porter’s Chapel Academy next week. The teams will play in Vicksburg Monday at 7 p.m., and at Tallulah Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Manchester 5, Vicksburg 1
Manchester Academy broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the top of the third inning, and rode the rally to a victory over Vicksburg High (3-7).
Jon Parker Dees went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs for Manchester (10-1), and Will Ketchum singled and scored two runs.
Kealon Bass walked twice and scored Vicksburg’s only run, on an error in the bottom of the third inning. Mickell Jones doubled as the Gators finished with four hits.
Chris Green was a bright spot on the mound for the Gators. He allowed only one earned run, five hits and no walks while striking out 10 batters in a complete game.
Vicksburg lost its third game in a row after winning the previous three. It will play at Germantown Saturday at 4 p.m.
Porter’s Chapel 15, Hillcrest 0
Porter’s Chapel 17, Hillcrest 0
Porter’s Chapel Academy got two district wins for the price of one, with a pair of run-rule shortened victories over Hillcrest Christian in a doubleheader on Thursday.
In game one, PCA scored seven runs in the first inning and went on to a 15-0 victory in three innings.
Taylor Labarre went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Evan Gordon and Conley Johnston were both 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
John Wyatt Massey pitched an abbreviated no-hitter. He walked two batters and struck out five.
Game two also ended in three innings, as PCA (10-2, 2-0 MAIS District 4-3A) scored 14 runs in the bottom of the second inning and rolled to the victory.
Hillcrest committed seven errors. Massey scored three runs, while Johnston, Chase Hearn, Labarre and Gavin Pugh each scored two.
Hearn hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the first inning and finished with three RBIs. He also joined Massey in the no-hitter club, with a three-inning gem. He did not walk a batter, although he hit one to account for Hillcrest’s only baserunner, and struck out seven.