The Bethlehem Christian Academy baseball team returned to the field Tuesday and continued to show why it is ranked No. 1 in Class A for the Georgia Independent Schools Association.
The Knights used a nine-run second inning to help dismantle visiting Nathanael Greene 13-0 in five innings. Despite the lopsided victory, BCA coach Nick Pou was not pleased with all aspects of his team’s effort.
“We need to play better,” Pou said after the contest. “One area we need to work on is situational hitting. We jumped on them 12-0 but we didn’t close the door in the third or fourth inning. We got their two best pitchers out of the game but we were selfish at the plate. We have to learn you don’t have to think about a home run every time. We need to think about getting runs in. We have to think less about ourselves as individuals and more about the team.”
Jared Martin earned the win and was never truly threatened by the Patriot batters. Martin recorded 11 strikeouts in five innings with three walks. He did not allow a hit as Nathanael Greene drew two walks in the top of the third inning but could not advance the runners. The Patriots drew another walk and had a batter hit by a pitch in the top of the fourth, but once again left them stranded.
It didn’t take the Knights long to get on track offensively. In the bottom of the first, Niko Mailloux had a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Jordan Fountain.
Martin was struck out by Nathanael Greene’s Ben Holcomb but reached first on a passed ball. That proved costly as Ramon Rivera then connected for a two-run homer.
The win was all but guaranteed after the second inning when BCA scored nine runs. Martin connected for a grand slam to help lead the inning.
Ben Morgan also had an RBI single in the inning as did Chandler Garmon. Fountain had a single which scored two runs in the third.
Tuesday’s game marked the beginning of the second half of region play for the Knights. BCA is 11-1 overall and 5-0 in Region 1-A. Remaining region games remain against John Hancock, Westminster Christian and Thomas Jefferson.
The Knights step out of region play Friday when they host Class AAA Dominion at 4:30 p.m. BCA will travel to Class AA Piedmont Academy Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest. Pou said the competition in these games should benefit his team as the Knights continue to push toward the postseason.
