The West Marion Trojans took care of business in the first round of the 3A playoffs, shutting out Southeast Lauderdale back-to-back nights and setting up a second-round date with a familiar opponent.
West Marion is slated to take on the squad it ousted with the right to go to the South State title series on the line last season, Franklin County (17-7). The Trojans topped Franklin County 4-3 on the road in Game 1 last year and 10-0 at home in Game 2.
Franklin County returns about half of its lineup and the majority of its pitching staff, but its top two aces graduated in 2017. Its tertiary pitchers last season have developed into quality starters with solid stuff. West Marion head coach Derrick Jerkins said the Trojans can’t afford any lapses on the diamond.
“They’re a scrappy team. I think it’s a series we can win, but we’ll need to play good baseball to win it. If we don’t play well, then we may not win it,” he said. “I’m sure they want to get back at us after we put them out in the playoffs in the third round last year. I’m sure that’s still in their minds.”
A pitchers’ duel ensued Thursday night at Southeast Lauderdale in Meridian with both teams being held scoreless in Game 1 through eight innings until the Trojans finally broke through in the ninth. Jayden Duncan led off the inning with a single and was advanced to third on a bunt base hit by Clay Blocker. Trace McNabb then stepped up to the plate and delivered with a sacrifice fly to score Duncan and give Shelby Terrell all the help he needed to secure a 1-0 victory.
Terrell reminded every other South State team just how West Marion made it to the title series last year, allowing just four base runners all night — one hit, one walk and two reached on errors — through nine shutout innings with nine strikeouts.
“Shelby pitched really well and threw a lot of strikes. He threw nine innings and threw only 95 pitches. He filled the zone up and had all his pitches really working,” Jerkins said. “We benefitted from a really wide strike zone, but we took advantage of it. (The umpire) was giving several inches off the outside corner, but you have to credit Shelby for hitting his spots and not missing his over the plate.”
Game 2 in Foxworth Friday night was a similar story as McNabb tossed another gem for the Trojans with a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits and one walk while fanning four in seven innings. The Trojans had a little better night at the dish with eight hits and scored three runs, but the defense stood out to Jerkins throughout the series.
“Both Shelby and Trace pitched the ball really well, and we played really good defense,” he said. “In 16 innings there were 24 balls hit to shortstop, and Randy Ramos made 23 out of 24 plays. He was big in the series, too, and he made several plays that could have been hits but took the hit away from them.”
Jayden Duncan (RBI) and Dalton Raynes both had a pair of hits, and Noel Parrett drove in a run. While four runs in two games was enough for West Marion in Round 1, Jerkins said they will need to improve to advance further.
“We struggled offensively, but we just have to realize we need a better approach and need to try to hit the ball up the middle,” he said. “Bunting is going to have to be part of our game. We’re going to need to play small ball because our pitching is good enough where we don’t need a lot of runs to win games.”
Pictured Above: West Marion pitcher Trace McNabb rears back to fire a pitch against Southeast Lauderdale. | Photo by Mark Rogers
