Baseball

Eagles Lose Home Opener to Stanhope Elmore

After a week of heavy rains, Alabama Christian (1-3) was able to take the field to face Stanhope Elmore Friday night. The ACA offense continued to struggle as the Eagles mustered only three hits against Mustang pitching. Starting pitcher JT Moorer (0-2) held the Mustangs without a run in four of the five innings he pitched. Through the first three innings, Moorer allowed only two hits with a strikeout on just 32 pitches. The Stanhope Elmore offense woke up in the fourth inning as they scored four runs on five hits, including three doubles to take a 4-0 lead. Moorer would last five innings and gave up seven hits and four runs with two strikeouts. Copeland Hilyer pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game. Caden Perry collected two of the team’s three hits in two at bats while Zac Westbrook had one hit in three plate appearances.

Alabama Christian Splits President's Day Doubleheader

ACA spent the holiday in scenic Notasulga to play a doubleheader against Reeltown and Elmore County. The Eagles split the two games, as they defeated Reeltown 10-4 and lost to Elmore County 13-1 to make their record 1-2 on the young season.

In the opener, ACA jumped ahead of Reeltown with four runs in the top of the first inning to take an early lead. The Rebel defense committed four errors in the inning which led directly to two of the Eagles runs. In the top of the fourth, Alabama Christian struck again with four more runs. The key hit of the inning was a two out double by Preston Perry which scored Thomas Stovall and KJ Kendrick. Two batters later, Copeland Hilyer drew a bases loaded walk to extend the lead to 8-1. ACA scored their last two runs of the game in the sixth inning as Zac Westbrook scored on a wild pitch and Preston Perry scored on a Mason Prestage ground out.

Preston Perry finished the contest with three hits in four at bats with two runs driven in and two runs scored. Mason Prestage finished the game 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored. Perry not only excelled at the plate, but pitched a solid game as he picked up the win for the Eagles. The starter went four innings and struck out seven batters while he gave up only one earned run. Brandon Bice and Chase Madrid pitched the final three innings to close out the game.

The nightcap went the Eagles way for the first two innings against Elmore County. ACA scored a first inning run when Thoams Stovall scored on an infield error by the Panthers. The score remained the same until the top of the third inning when Elmore County erupted for seven runs. The Panthers put together five hits with two walks to take a commanding 7-1 lead over the Eagles. ACA would muster no runs and only one hit over the final two innings. Meanwhile, Elmore County tacked on six more runs for the 13-1 victory. KJ Kendrick collected the only hit for the Eagles. Zac Westbrook took the loss as he gave up seven runs over three innings.

ACA Loses Season Opener at Holtville

Alabama Christian’s defense struggled in the season opener with seven errors which led to nine unearned runs. The game was called in the fifth inning as Holtville defeated the Eagles 11-1.

On a very cold night the season’s first game started in the best possible way for the Alabama Christian baseball team. The first three Eagle batters reached base, but not much went ACA’s way after that. Thomas Stovall scored a run on a wild pitch which would be the only run scored by the Eagles on the night. Holtville broke the game wide open in the second inning as they scored seven runs on only one hit. ACA helped the Bulldog’s cause with four errors, four walks and a hit batsman in the disastrous inning. Starting pitcher JT Moorer took the loss despite only giving up one earned run in 1 2/3 innings. Copeland Hilyer and Zac Westbrook collected the Eagles only two hits in the contest.

ACA will next play a President’s Day doubleheader against Reeltown and Elmore County at Reeltown .