Escambia Academy put together some good pitching and hitting in a 9-0 and 13-11 sweep over Russell Christian Academy (Mississippi) tonight in the AISA Class 2A Regional Quarterfinals in Canoe.

Cougars senior Drew Parker pitched a gem in the first game of the best of three series, allowing five hits, no runs and striking out 12 in a complete game. He allowed no walks in the victory.

During both games, EA’s bats came alive as the Cougars tallied 18 hits.

“In the first game, (Drew) Parker was just outstanding,” EA baseball coach John Fields said. “I thought our hitting has been the best it’s been in 10 games. We hit the ball real well. Everybody played hard and gutted it out.”

Fields said during the second game, EA’s defense played well.

“We had to move some folks around. (Jason) Davis came in and through the first three innings, he had thrown something like 22-23 pitches,” he said. “The defense just stepped up and did a really good job, especially the middle infield. Our catcher, Kameron (Bowens), he was in a tough spot. He wasn’t playing in his normal spot. Our back up (Kainoa Gumapac) got hurt (back) while as the designated hitter in the first game. (Bowens) did a great job back there and worked hard.”

With the wins, the Cougars advance to the regional semifinals, where they will travel to face Macon East in Montgomery. Macon East had a bye in the first round.

The Cougars are familiar with the Knight as they played them earlier this year. EA lost by one run in the last inning to the Montgomery school.

“We played our best ball game all year against them and still lost,” Fields said. “We’ve got a lot to work on this week. The kids need to be proud of this win, but we need to go up to Macon East and be ready because those sap suckers are good. They are really good.”

EA improves to 12-13 on the season.

For complete coverage, see Wednesday’s edition of The Atmore Advance.