The Columbia Academy Cougars (6-10, 1-0) struggled through a four-loss slide last week but rebounded for a big win in their district opener Monday.
After falling to Parklane Academy March 19, the Cougars carried a 9-3 lead going into the seventh inning at home the next night but allowed Presbyterian Christian to score nine runs to lose 12-9.
Despite the loss the Cougars had the bats rolling as Drew Havard launched a three-run homer and had an RBI double, Slade Wilks went 2-for-2 with a home run, two walks and 3 RBI and Harrison Hartzog ripped a double and a single. On the mound Chance Forbes was solid through six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits and three walks while striking out six, but his pitch count was up to 114, forcing the Cougars to the bullpen for the seventh. Wilks was tagged for six runs on one hit and five walks through 2/3 of an inning to take the loss.
“The hardest thing was that we had to wait three days to get back out there and play. It kind of sat in the players’ minds a bit, but we were able to have a few good days of practice after. It was a tough loss and definitely a humbling loss. We’ve been preaching all year that (baseball) is a little different than other sports,” head coach Heath Smith said. “You can’t sit on a lead. You have to give the man his chance to come back. We have to throw strikes and get it over the plate, and we were unable to do it in that instance. But I believe it was a great learning experience. In the long run I think it will be something we can look back on and keep in the back of our minds any time we’re playing with a lead late.”
At first glance it may appear that the demoralizing loss carried over into Saturday’s play as CA lost to PCS 12-2 and West Jones 15-0 in Hattiesburg, but rather the Cougars were “handicapped” with their first district series beginning 48 hours later.
“We had everybody on a really strict pitch count. I think it was less than a carry over and more of the team knowing we weren’t going to be able to go into Saturday with guns blazing,” Smith said. “I wasn’t real happy with the way we competed, though. We knew we were behind the 8-ball on the pitching staff side, and we didn’t compete very good at the plate, in the field or on the mound.”
Fortunately for the Cougars, though, they were able to rinse out the nasty taste of the past week’s losses on Monday and dominated Laurel Christian on the road in an 11-1 rout in their district opener.
Havard paced the Cougars at the dish with a perfect 4-for-4 showing with 3 RBI, and Slade Wilks powered two triples to go along with a single and an RBI. Ras Pace laced two doubles, Aaron Thomas had a pair of singles and an RBI and Harrison Hartzog drove in three runs.
“We finally hit the ball 1-though-9. The whole lineup was finding barrels, even if they were just loud outs,” Smith said. “The wind was blowing in extremely hard. If not, I think we would have increased in power, but we still had a lot of extra-base hits, probably the most we’ve had this year.”
However, it was the gem Thomas whirled — seven innings, two hits, one unearned run, no walks and 10 strikeouts — that had Smith excited.
“The most important thing was the competitiveness Aaron Thomas was able to demonstrate on the mound,” he said. “It was nice to see somebody outside of Chance Forbes be able to go the distance.”
The Cougars hosted Laurel Christian in a doubleheader Tuesday night (results unavailable at press time) to complete the three-game series. Smith said the Cougars are looking forward to the routine of playing a three-game district series every week rather than a mismatch schedule.
“We’ll have a chance to adapt to the team we’re playing and match up with them throughout the week. I think that’s going to put pressure on other teams a little bit,” he said. “There’s no facing other teams every game each week. When you play three or four different teams in a week, you may see three teams’ aces. In this type of setting we’ll see a team’s complete pitching staff, as well as they will against us.”
The Cougars will take on Bowling Green next, taking on the Buccaneers next Tuesday night on the road at 7 then in a home doubleheader Thursday night at 5 and 7.
Pictured Above: Columbia Academy's Patrick Gill laces a double off the center field wall. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
