Callaway stays in first place
Published 11:25 pm Tuesday, April 3, 2018
By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY
Daily News
The Callaway Cavaliers outlasted Jordan 7-4 on Tuesday afternoon to maintain their position atop the Region 5-AA standings.
Callaway improved to 6-1 in the region, and it is a first-place tie with Heard County.
Wesley Marchman pitched five solid innings to get the win for Callaway, and Braelin Mitchell and Brooks Bledsoe each had an RBI hit to lead the offensive effort.
While pleased to see his team secure the victory, Callaway head coach Dusty Hubbard felt the effort could have been better.
The Cavaliers had four infield errors early in the game, and Hubbard pointed to a handful of other mental mistakes the players made.
“I just feel like right now, they’re not responding to coaching,” Hubbard said. “We’ve got too many guys trying to do things their way. And it’s not going to be effective. If we don’t fix that, if we don’t figure thatout, then we’re going to struggle.”
Jordan had a 3-1 lead after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the second inning, and Callaway answered with a run in the bottom of the inning before taking the lead with three runs in the fourth.
Clinging to a 5-4 lead, Callaway added two key insurance runs in the sixth inning.
Chandler Lott, Callaway’s standout senior pitcher, threw two scoreless innings in relief of Marchman to get the save.
Marchman, who is unbeaten this season, held Jordan to four hits in five innings, and three of the four runs he allowed were unearned.
“I thought Wesley did a good job,” Hubbard said. “He just didn’t have much help.”
After Jordan scored a run in the top of the first, Callaway tied it in the bottom of the inning.
Drake Wade led off with a single, and Braelin Mitchell later delivered a two-out, RBI single to pull Callaway even.
Jordan, taking advantage of some Callaway defensive miscues, took the lead with two runs in the top of the second.
Callaway got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second.
Jabari Smith got things started with a walk, and he moved to second on a balk and took third on a passed ball before scoring when Bledsoe reached on an error.
The Cavaliers surged ahead with three runs in the fourth inning.
Kyle Campbell led off with a base hit, and Marchman then ripped the ball down the left-field line for a double to put men on second and third.
After Smith walked to load the bases, Bledsoe’s base hit brought in Campbell with the tying run.
With the bags still full, Destin Patrick walked to bring in the go-ahead run.
After a pitching change, Wade grounded into a double play, but another run scored to give Callaway a 5-3 lead.
Jordan got a run in the top of the fifth, and Marchman did a nice job of limiting the damage to keep Callaway on top.
In the bottom of the sixth, Callaway padded its lead.
Bledsoe legged out an infield hit leading off, and Bryce Kurian put down a sacrifice bunt before Wade walked.
After a wild pitch allowed Bledsoe and Wade to advance, Trent Sheppard stepped to the plate and lofted the ball to center field for a sacrifice fly.
Bledsoe raced home and scored, and when the ball got away from the catcher, Wade crossed home plate as well to give the Cavaliers a three-run lead.
Lott gave up a walk in the sixth inning and a base hit in the seventh, but he worked around those base runners to keep Jordan at four runs.
Callaway and Jordan will play a doubleheader on Friday at Carver High in Columbus, with the first game set for 4:30 p.m.
Callaway finishes its region schedule with three games against Heard County next week.
