By By Lori Dann and Earl McKenzie
Staff Writers
The good news for the Escambia County baseball team is that the Blue Devils picked up their first win of the season last weekend.
The bad news is that, for the first time in five years, ECHS actually had a chance to win the Escambia County Tournament going into its final game and fell short.
Five-time defending county champion Flomaton pulled out a 5-1 victory over ECHS on a blustery Saturday night to dash the Blue Devils' hopes.
T.R. Miller than won the final game over W.S. Neal to give the Tigers and Hurricanes identical 2-1 records. Due to the Tigers' 11-5 victory against the Hurricanes in the tournament, T.R. Miller won the championship. Flomaton was the runner-up.
The following is a summary of tournament action.
T.R. Miller 11, Flomaton 5
The Tigers took a 9-1 lead and held on for an 11-5 victory.
Robert English was 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple, three RBI and two runs in the win, while Andy Hamrick, Brad Byrne and Shane Dawsey had two hits each.
Shane Prater got the win on the mound, while Brandon Knowles took the loss.
W.S. Neal 13, Escambia County 5
The host Blue Eagles beat ECHS 13-5 in the nightcap of the first day. The Blue Eagles jumped to a 5-0 lead, scoring two runs on three hits in the first inning and three runs on two hits in the second. ECHS scored four runs one two hits and four WSN errors during the third inning and closed the gap to 5-4.
WSN then plated four runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and one in the sixth while holding ECHS to one additional run.
The Blue Eagles picked up 11 hits while holding the Blue Devils to four. Matt Patrick was 2-for-4 for ECHS, while Adam Carlee was 1-for-3 with a double and Zach Brooks was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Matt Barrentine, the starter, was credited with the win. He pitched three innings, allowed four runs, three hits, walked two and struck out six. J.B. Blair allowed one run, walked two and struck out one in 2 1/3 innings. Grayson Peters struck out one while pitching the final 1 1/3 innings.
Keith Bell allowed eight runs, eight hits, walked three and struck out two while pitching 4 1/3 innings for ECHS. Adam Young relieved Bell. He allowed four runs and one hit, walked three and struck out six in 1 2/3 innings of work.
Brandon Rose was 3-for-5 with two runs; Blair was 2-for-5 with three runs and Jamie Kilcrease was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI for W.S. Neal.
Escambia Co. 10, T.R. Miller 7
After a three-hour rain delay, ECHS picked up its first victory of the season, 10-7, by beating the tournament champion.
The Blue Devils trailed 5-3 before scoring four runs in the fifth and three in the sixth. ECHS pitcher Leslie Cooper had a three-run double during the fifth and Traveis Guy drilled a three-run homer in the sixth.
Leading the Blue Devil offense were Cooper , 2-for-4 with three RBI and a double; Guy, 2-for-4 with a home runs and three RBI; and Levia Hubert, 2-for-3 with two runs. Also contributing offensively were Patrick (1-for-3), Ryan Daniel (1-for-3, 1 RS), Young (1-for-3) and Mark Powell (2 RS, 2 BB).
TRM was led by English (4-4, 2 RS, 3 RBI, 2 SB), Allen Hamric (3-4, 1 RBI) and Brad Byrne (2-4, 1 RS, 1 SB).
Flomaton 4 W.S. Neal 3
Flomaton scored four runs in the fourth inning on three hits and held off WSN 4-3.
WSN scored its three runs in the top of the sixth on two hits.
Bo Newton picked up the victory for the Hurricanes.
Turner (3-3, 1 RS), Eli Himes (2-3), B. Knowles (1-3, 1 RS), Burt (1-3, 1 RS), Allgood (1-2) and Newton (1 RS) provided the Flomaton offense.
Rose (1-3, 1 RS), Blair (1-3, 1 RS), Singleton (1-3) and Wiggins (1-3) picked up hits for WSN.
Flomaton 5 Escambia Co. 1
Flomaton and Escambia County played 2 1/2 innings of scoreless ball. Flomaton loaded the bases in the bottom of the second and ECHS had two runners on in the top of the third, but neither capitalized.
A lead off walk and an error put two Hurricanes on in the bottom of the third. ECHS pitcher Judd Coley then got the next two batters on pop fly balls. With two out, Bo Newton hit a ground ball off the pitchers glove. Although fielded by second baseman Mark Powell the runner was safe and two runs scored for Flomaton.
ECHS then stranded two runners in the fourth, as did Flomaton.
Cooper hit a solo-homer in the sixth and trimmed the lead to 2-1.
Flomaton scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Himes, an RBI single by Kenny White, a double by Tullis and a single by Terry Carter.
ECHS threatened to make a two-out rally in the top of the seventh. The Blue Devils loaded the bases on two singles and a base on balls, but a ground out to the pitcher ended the game.
T.R. Miller 4 W.S. Neal 2
The TRM Tigers entered the final game of the tournament knowing a victory against arch-rival WSN would earn the title, a defeat would mean last place.
WSN was playing for second place after losing to Flomaton earlier in the day. A loss meant third place for the host team.
Although outhit 6-1, the Tigers came out of the game with a 4-2 victory and the tournament first-place trophy.
The Blue Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Barrentine led off the inning with a single and scored on an error
TRM scored two runs in the third and took the lead. Will Luker reached on an error English then walked. Luker scored on a fielder's choice and English scored on an error.
WSN tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. Barrentine singled and scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Singleton.
After two scoreless innings, TRM plated two runs and picked up its lone hit in the top of the ninth. Luker walked and scored on an error on a ball hit by English. B. Byrne then drove in English with a single.
Drew Hunt was the starting pitcher for TRM. He went eight innings and picked up the victory. Hunt struck out eight and walked one while allowing two runs and scattering six hits.
B. Byrne came on in relief in the ninth and allowed no runs and no hits. He walked one and struck out one batter.
Blair, L. Knowles, Barrentine and Wiggins pitched for WSN. Wiggins was credited with the loss.
Blair allowed two runs, no hits, two walks and struck out three in three innings. Knowles allowed no runs, no hits, walked two and struck out seven in four innings of work. Barrentine allowed one walk in one inning and Wiggins allowed two runs, one hit, one walk and struck out one in the final inning.
B. Byrne (1-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB), Luker (2 RS, 1 BB) and English (2 RS, 1 BB) led the Tiger offense.
Barrentine (2-4, 2 RS), Peters (2-4), Kilcrease (1-4) and Rose (1-5) picked up hits for WSN.
Making the All-Tournament team were English (TRM), B. Byrne (TRM), Hunt (TRM), Allen Hamric (TRM), Kilcrease (WSN), L. Knowles (WSN), Newton (FHS), Himes (FHS), Turner (FHS) and Cooper (ECHS).
The 2001 tournament is scheduled to be played in Flomaton.