In spring baseball, there are the two teams, then there’s that other competitor: the weather.
The rains fell hard on Madison County Wednesday, but the hope is that the diamond Red Raiders can host Prince Avenue at 5:30 p.m. (today) Thursday. A scheduled game this past weekend against Prince was rained out.
“It will be good to see Jason Myers, coach at Prince Avenue who is a Madison County alum,” said head coach Charlie Griffeth. “We need to get pitchers some more innings and all the game experience we can before the region starts.”
On deck for this week is a Saturday road game against Duluth. This final non-region game is the last chance the Red Raiders have for a non-region game before region play begins Wednesday, March 16.
“We hope to get in both games,” Griffeth said.
Assistant coach Ken Morgan agreed: “Our hitters and pitchers need work and playing consistently always helps.”
In the opening region game, Madison County hosts Rockdale County. In the past 10 pairings, the Red Raiders have pulled out eight wins versus Rockdale. Since the 2008 season, a pattern has emerged where the Red Raiders tend to defeat the Bulldogs by three or four runs in the first meeting, while the second meeting of the teams is generally a one-run game. Madison County will see if that tradition proves true Wednesday. First pitch is at 5:55 p.m. at Red Raider Stadium.
MADISON CO. SHUTS OUT JACKSON CO.
This past week, Madison County improved to a 4-1 with a 6-0 shutout of Jackson County Monday evening.
In the second inning, the Red Raiders strung together three singles to load the bases. J. Ben Hardman, Haden Martin and Daniel Townsend were on the bags. At the plate, Bo Hardman brought about the Fielder’s choice that allowed J. Hardman to score.
In the fifth, a lead off home run out high over the left-centerfield wall by Jarrett Seawright started the most productive inning for Madison County. Will McCarty, the courtesy runner for Kyle Dean who reached on a walk, got into scoring position with a steal. A single off the bat of Dylan Chandler brought McCarty home, pushing Madison County, 3-0.
J. Hardman walked, joining Chandler on the bags with two outs on the board. Townsend delivered a double driving in both Chandler and J. Hardman.
The final run of the night came off the bat of Kyle Dean with a blast to left in the sixth to score the sixth and final run.
Townsend led at the plate, batting 3-4 with two RBIs. Chandler went 2-4 with an RBI, while B. Hardman and Zach Escoe each added singles. Dean and Seawright both hit solo homers.
Earning his second win from the mound, Matt Savage went 4 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and five walks, while fanning eight. Alex Jordan pitched relief for the final 1 2/3 innings, with four strikeouts and one hit allowed.
In the previous game, Feb. 25 with Hart County, Madison County won 9-3.
With a three-run homer, Steven Tiller brought in J. Hardman and Jordan Thomas in the second inning to get things started for the Red Raiders. Extending the lead by three in the third, Madison County had a lead-off double by Brock Turner and a two-run homer by Dean. A triple by Martin scored Chandler.
Chandler hit his own three-run home run in the fourth.
Hart scored a run in the third, fourth and seventh innings.
Savage had the win after 5, with two runs, one earned, three hits and seven strikeouts while walking four. Jordan pitched the sixth inning, striking out three after the hitter reached base on an error. Turner closed, giving up one run and three hits to fan three.
In the only loss of the season to date, Madison County fell to Hebron 10-3.
Chandler batted 2-3 with an RBI and Escoe added a single.
Hebron had 10 hits, scoring three in the second inning, one in the third, five in the fourth and one in the fifth.
