CCHS baseball suffers loss in season opener
Published 2:40 pm Friday, February 24, 2017
By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser
First game jitters got the best of the Tigers on Thursday night, as errors cost Chilton County heavily in a season opening loss to the Park Crossing Thunderbirds, 6-1.
A bases loaded two-out strikeout by Tigers’ pitcher Noah McGhar got Chilton out of a bases loaded bind to end the top of the first inning, but the bottom half of the first came and went quietly for the Tigers to bring the inning to an end with no runs on the board.
Three errors and a pair of doubles for the Thunderbirds in the top of the second inning put Chilton County in a five-run deficit.
Gage Atcheson accounted for the only Tigers hit in the bottom half of the inning, as the game moved to the top of the third with the Thunderbirds leading 5-0.
The Chilton County defense retired the Thunderbirds in order in the top of the third inning, but followed likewise in the home half of the inning to move the game to the top of the fourth.
A leadoff single by Doron Mitchell started the fourth and lead to a sacrifice fly by Kellen Ward to extend the Thunderbirds lead to six.
A leadoff walk by Dustin Cleckler was followed by a strikeout, fly ball out to center and an infield ground ball to bring the fourth to a close with the Tigers trailing by six.
A lead-off single and fielders choice to start the fifth did not hurt the Tigers after a strikeout and fly ball to left, while a bases-loaded ball off the shoulder of Cleckler sent Giqoun Lane across home plate put the Tigers on the board, 6-1.
A two-out double by the Thunderbirds and an Atcheson walk was all the offense through the sixth inning, and with neither team managing any runs in the seventh, the Tigers opened the season with a loss.
McGhar got the start for the Tigers on the mound and threw 1 2/3 innings, allowing two earned runs. Atcheson led the Tigers at the plate, going 1-for-1 with a single.