Blue Devils drop two to T.R. Miller

Published 10:33 am Wednesday, March 2, 2011

ECHS Blue Devil Marshall Rolin slides into home plate during the Blue Devils’ loss to the T.R. Miller Tigers on Saturday in Poarch.|Photo by AJ Beachy

Escambia County’s young Blue Devils baseball squad fell to 0-4 on the season after dropping two games to the T.R. Miller Tigers on Saturday in Poarch.

The Blue Devils were defeated 14-3 in the second game of the doubleheader and 12-2 in the opening game on Saturday.

The blunt of the runs scored against the Blue Devils came in the first innings of both games with the Blue Devils being outscored by the Tigers (2-0) 15-0 overall in both games.

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Blue Devils head coach Jason Barnett said his team is doing things the right way, but the teams they are playing are finding ways to get runs.

“Our fielding has been great,” he said. “We haven’t really had any errors. The base hits that teams are getting are genuine base hits. We are still walking too many batters, but pitching is starting to come around. We are just a young team and the young guys getting this time on the field and the mound will benefit us. It might not be this year or next year, but it will pay off eventually.”

Tigers 14

Blue Devils 3

A nine-run first inning for the Tigers paved the way to another route of the Blue Devils, this one a 14-3 win over Atmore in five innings.

After holding a 9-0 lead after the first inning, T.R. Miller scored one run in the second, and two in the third and fourth to hold a 14-0 lead after the top of the fourth.

Atmore added three runs in the fourth inning and neither team scored in the fifth as T.R. Miller won by 11 runs.

Davis was 1-for-4 with a three-run home run for the Tigers. Ryan Hunt was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs and Conner Denton was 2-for-3 with one RBI.

Rickey Curry was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Wil Riggs was 2-for-2 with two RBIs. Riggs also had three stolen bases in the win.

Hunt, Denton, and Curry all scored two runs and Davis scored once.

Riggs scored three times.

Shawn Odom earned the win on the mound for T.R. Miller allowing no runs, two hits, and struck out five in three innings of work.

Joseph Strength went the final two innings allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits, walked none and struck out five.

Tigers 12

Blue Devils 2

After scoring six runs in the first inning, T.R. Miller added one in the second and five in the sixth to take a 12-2 win over Atmore in their season opener Saturday.

Atmore’s two runs came in the bottom of the sixth, but were not enough as T.R. Miller earned the win in six innings.

Kevin Davis got the start and the win on the mound for T.R. Miller.

Davis went the complete game allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits, walked none, hit one and struck out 17.

At the plate for the Tigers, Conner Denton was 2-for-3 with one RBI and three runs scored while Shawn Odom was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.

Collin Graves was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

This weekend, the Blue Devils will host the Escambia County Baseball Tournament at Tom Byrne Park.

Barnett said he is going into the tournament expecting to come out the county champions.

“We have the county tournament this weekend and we’ve played everyone that is in it,” he said. “We are the only team that has had that opportunity, so we know what to expect. I think we stand a chance and I fullly expect to win the thing. I want us to go in and put on a good show for everybody. We can win it if we just play ball.”

The Blue Devils open the Escambia County Baseball Tournament at 4 p.m. on Friday with a match up against the T.R. Miller Tigers.

Brewton Standard Sports Editor contributed to this report.