The West Marion Trojans (1-1) opening week on the diamond was a tale of two completely different stories in the Lawrence County Classic.
The first story came Thursday as the Trojans squared off against one of top junior pitchers in the state, North Pike lefty Kole Alford, who has offers from the University of New Orleans and Southeastern (La.). They managed just two hits in a 3-0 loss.
“North Pike had a kid that sat at 88 (miles per hour) all night long and was tough,” head coach Derrick Jerkins said. “We just couldn’t get anything started.”
Shelby Terrell was solid on the mound, per usual, tossing five innings with seven strikeouts and allowing three runs, one earned, on two hits. Terrell had one of the Trojans two hits, while Jayden Duncan had the other.
Playing Lawrence County Saturday after the game was postponed from Friday night, the Trojans pounded out 13 hits, five for extra bases, and won 9-2.
Terrell paced the offense with three hits and a solo home run, while Josh Boone drove in two runs on three singles and Duncan and Dalton Raynes each had two hits.
“Josh Boone, a freshman, just played defense for us last year and is now a full-time starter for us this year. He went 3-for-4 against Lawrence County and he’s emerging,” Jerkins said. “He’s going to be a good one. He’s playing center field for us this year.”
Brett Jenkins also had himself a day with a double, triple and 3 RBI and is replacing the Trojans best hitter from last season, Jacob Boone, at first base.
“He got several pinch-hit opportunities last year and played a little bit, but this is his first opportunity to start for us,” Jerkins said.
Trace McNabb, who has already signed with Pearl River Community College, tossed a scoreless gem on the mound, allowing just two hits and punching out 11 batters in five innings.
“He pounded the strike zone. His velocity was really good — we didn’t have him on the radar gun — but I’d say he was around 85 to 88,” Jerkins said. “He threw his breaking ball really well all night long, and he throws it hard enough he can get it by a lot of hitters.”
Last year the Trojans pitching staff carried West Marion to the South State championship and has its top three arms back plus an addition of a Texas transfer, leading to high expectations in 2018.
“As long as we clean up some of our defense and play better in the field than we did last year I think we’ll do really well. All we have to do is score a few runs and we’ll be in most ball games,” Jerkins said. “Shelby Terrell and Trace McNabb are really good, and Randy Ramos and Jayden Duncan can win you some ball games, so we have four quality arms. We just have to play defense. I think we’ll swing the bats better than we did last year and score some runs.”
The Trojans hosted Pass Christian Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. They will play at Pass Christian in a rematch Thursday night before heading to Columbia Academy Friday night. Both games are slated to start at 7.
