It was a beautiful day to open the 2024 baseball season as Alabama Christian (0-1) traveled to Clanton to play. Unfortunately, the game did not begin until 7:00 and the cold crept back in after the sun went down. The Eagles fell to Chilton County by a score of 5-2.
Mac (or Mal as the PA announcer liked to call him) Moorer looked in mid-season form to lead off the first as he was hit on the second pitch of the game. Landon Nelson singled to center with one out, but a double play ended the threat and the first inning. Nelson toed the rubber for ACA and although he had base runners in every frame he pitched, he allowed just one hit over his 3 ⅔ innings and struck out seven. The hit he gave up was a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth for the first runs of the night. The hit was a heart breaker as it came after Nelson and the entire team thought he had struck out the batter before which would have ended the inning and kept the contest scoreless.
ACA answered in the top of the fifth with two runs of their own to tie the game at 2-2. Jackson McGuire led off with a single followed by a walk from Cam Sutton. Zander Costanza sacrificed the two runners over to put runners at second and third with one out. After a strikeout, Mac Moorer delivered a two-out infield single which scored Bryant Swindle, who was running for McGuire, and after an error by the shortstop Sutton came around to score to tie the game. Moorer relieved in the home half of the fifth, but gave up an unearned run as Chilton County pulled back in the lead. The home team scored two more unearned runs in the sixth for the 5-2 victory.
Mac Moorer, Grant Cornette, Landon Nelson, and Jackson McGuire each had a single for the team’s four hits on the night. Moorer and Cam Sutton each reached base three times.
ACA resumes play on Tuesday, February 20th as they host Catholic in the home opener.