By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP
Advance Managing Editor
The Escambia County High School dropped a heartbreaker to area opponent Citronelle Friday 1-0 and began what would become a tough weekend for the Blue Devils as they lost a doubleheader to Foley on Saturday.
In their first area game of the season, the Blue Devils and Wildcats struggled for runs. Citronelle scored the first run to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning as they pulled off a squeeze bunt with two outs that caught the Blue Devils off guard.
Chase McGhee pitched a complete game and only allowed the one run. He gave up five hits, three walks and struck out six Wildcats. His record dropped to 2-1 for the season.
At the plate, ECHS struggled to get men on base as they only had three hits in the ball game. Franklin Boykin, Jared Carlton and Adam Young were the only Blue Devils to get on base.
Foley 11, ECHS 2
On Saturday, ECHS was dealt their first big loss as the Foley Lions pulled away with a big first inning that took the Blue Devils out of the game.
The Lions scored seven runs in the first inning and another in the second inning to pull out to an 8-0 lead. ECHS did not get on the board until the fifth inning when they scored their only two runs. Foley increased their lead with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Adam Young pitched five and two-thirds innings for the Blue Devils. He gave up 13 hits, four walks and five earned runs. He also struck out four Lion batters. His record sits at 0-1 on the season.
Leading hitters for the Blue Devils were Young who went three for three with two RBI and Keith Bell who went one for two.
Foley 9, ECHS 5
Foley remained hot at the plate as they entered the second game of the doubleheader. They scored four runs in the second and four more in the third to take an 8-0 lead.
The Blue Devils got in the game in the top of the fourth as they came around to score five runs – making it a three-run game, 8-5.
The Devils were never able to score again in the game and Foley added another run in the bottom of the fifth to give them a 9-5 victory.
Mark Rodgers record fell to 1-2 on the season as he suffered the loss on the mound. He threw six innings giving up six hits, five walks and five earned runs. He struck out two Lion batters.
Leaders at the plate were Traveis Guy who went two for three with a triple, John Rehorn also went two for three and had an RBI and Adam Young went one for three and drove in two runs.
Head coach Keith Nall said despite the losses he is still pleased with how the team has performed early on this season.
The Blue Devils overall record is 4-4 and they are 0-1 in the area.
They will play in the Escambia County Baseball Tournament this weekend in Flomaton with games scheduled on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.