Another bad first inning was the recipe for disaster in the Escambia County Blue Devils game against Cottage Hill Tuesday at Tom Byrne Park.

The Blue Devils (2-18, 2-7) gave up six runs in the top of the first, and never bounced back, as they fell 13-2 in six innings.

Poor pitching opened the door for the runs in the top of the first, with the Warriors gaining the 6-0 advantage thanks to several walks.

“We just got off to a slow start,” Blue Devils Head Baseball Coach Andy Lambert said. “Our pitcher was struggling on the mound. He walked the first three guys before he got anything going. We gave up several runs in the first inning, and we never recovered from that.”

Escambia County did find some offense in the game with Winston Barron (2-for-3, R, RBI) scoring in the first inning on a RBI-double by Matthew Quimby (1-for-3, RBI, 2B) to put the score at 6-1.

The team’s second run, however, would not come until they were down 13-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning. On that score, Malcolm Black (0-for-3, R) was waiting on second base when Justin Davis (2-for-3, RBI) ripped a single that allowed Black to cross the plate making the score 13-2 where it would end on the 10-run rule.

Despite the loss, signs of improvement can be seen with more to come from the Blue Devils’ young players, Lambert said.

“The guys still have great attitudes,” he said. “They still want to learn and get better, which is a good sign for this team. We just need to continue getting better at what we execute. All we have to do is take baby steps towards improvement. We have several players that will return, so our focus is just getting better at playing this game.”

The Blue Devils next game will be Monday on the road in Excel. Games begin at 4 p.m. with the junior varsity squads facing off.

Excel 12, Escambia Co. 2
Two runs in the bottom of the third were all the Escambia County Blue Devils could put on the scoreboard in their loss to the Excel Panthers Tuesday at Tom Byrne Park.

Malcolm Black (1-for-2, R) and Justin Davis (1-for-2, R) crossed home plate in the inning for ECHS pulling the game close at 4-2, but big runs in late innings allowed the Panthers to pull away for a 12-2 victory.

Strong plate appearances gave ECHS a chance to compete, but the work on the mound hurt those chances, ECHS Head Baseball Coach Andy Lambert said.

“We were playing well and had some good hits,” he said. “We had a chance to fight and win the game, but our pitching fell apart, which allowed Excel to hit some fat pitches and score some runs, so they pulled away from us.”