Last year, ACA dropped game one of the series with St James, but swept a doubleheader at home to win the tie-breaker on their way to the Area title. This year, St James turned the tables as they dropped the opener on Thursday, but responded with a sweep of Alabama Christian on Friday to take command of the Area race. The Eagles won the first game of the three game series, 1-0, in a pitcher’s duel. On Friday, ACA blew late leads and watched the Trojans score the winning run in the bottom of the seventh twice.
In a baseball rarity, both pitchers threw no-hitters on Thursday as the starters dominated. Isaac Warrick tied his season high for the second time this year with 13 strikeouts. The lone run of the game was in the bottom of the third as Thomas Stovall reached base on a wild pitch on a third strike. Hayes Hunt followed with a ground ball to first which was booted to put runners at second and third. Preston Hicks hit an 0-1 pitch to second base that scored Stovall with the eventual game-winning run. The Eagles would head to St James on Friday with first place in the Area on the line.
JT Moorer took the ball for the Eagles in the second game of the series and allowed two first-inning runs after a walk and a hit batter to start the game. The Eagles responded in the top of the second as Isaac Warrick and Hunter Barfoot opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Warrick scored on a Landon Nelson grounder to cut the lead in half. Moorer settled in and the score remained 2-1 into the sixth inning as the starter helped himself with a key base knock. With two outs and the bases loaded, Moorer hit the first pitch he saw into left field to give ACA a 3-2 lead. Two errors with one out in the home half of the inning gave St James life and the Trojans retook the lead 4-3 heading into the seventh. Alabama Christian scratched a run across in the seventh as Preston Hicks scored on a Trey Schlemmer double to tie the game, 4-4. Unfortunately, the Eagles left Schlemmer at second as three straight batters were unable to move the runner. After allowing Trojans to reach second and third with one out, ACA intentionally walked the bases loaded for a force at any base. The St James batter hit a fly ball deep enough to left to drive home the winning run and a 5-4 victory over ACA.
JT Moorer picked up the loss as he went the distance allowing only two earned while striking out seven Trojans. Isaac Warrick finished with two hits in four at bats with two runs scored while three other Eagles, Hayes Hunt, Preston Hicks and Hunter Barfoot, each had two hits.
Alabama Christian looked to regain the momentum in the tie-breaker and jumped to an early 2-0 lead. With two outs in the first, Trey Schlemmer and Isaac Warrick both knocked in runs for the two-run advantage. The Trojans answered with four runs in the bottom half to erase any early energy ACA had generated. Hayes Hunt helped his own cause in the second with a two-run triple to tie the game, 4-4. Like Moorer, Hunt settled down after a rough first inning and kept St James off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. Meanwhile, ACA added single runs in each of the next three innings to build a 7-4 lead after five innings. In the top of the sixth, the Eagles tacked on three more runs as Preston Hicks, Schlemmer and Warrick all delivered run scoring singles for a seemingly insurmountable lead. Errors again hurt ACA as St James scored four runs in the sixth, two on errors, to cut the lead to 10-8. ACA failed to score for the first time in the game in the seventh and clung to a two-run lead. Starting pitcher, Hayes Hunt, had reached his pitch limit after six innings and Hunter Barfoot entered the game in a pressure packed situation. St James took advantage and scored three runs in their half of the seventh to take the game, the series and control of the Area standings.
Trey Schlemmer went 2 for 4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Isaac Warrick was 2 for 3 with two runs driven in and two runs scored. Hayes Hunt pitched six innings with five strikeouts and gave up three earned runs while Hunter Barfoot got the loss in relief.