‘Canes Struggle on the Diamond
They say good pitching always beats good hitting. That was certainly the case on Thursday, March 1, when the ‘Canes were shut out 11-0 by the Lamar County Trojans, a team that had an overall record of 17-10 and a region record of 14-8 last year, which was good enough to take them to the playoffs.
The hot bats of the ‘Canes were cooled off by an excellent Trojan pitcher who struck out 10 batters and only allowed two hits, both singles by freshman Kyle Byrd. The only other base runners were Matt Hyde who walked twice and Josh Boone who walked once. Their old nemesis, errors, also came back to haunt them.
On Friday, March 3, they played host to the Jackson Red Devils with similar results as the prior game, losing 15-4 to the Red Devils. The Red Devils, another playoff team from last year with an overall record of 21-7 and a region record of 15-5, dominated the ‘Canes until the fifth inning when the ‘Canes staged a small rally and scored four runs. But once again, it was strong pitching by their opponents, errors, and the inability to score runs that beat them.
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On Tuesday, March 7, they faced Morgan County in another home game and another loss by a score of 10-0. The defense showed vast improvement and played error-free for the first three innings and were only down 1-0. The infield made several good plays and the outfield played error free making six catches to keep the ‘Canes in the game.
But once again strong pitching was their downfall, with 13 batters being struck out at the plate. The only hit for the ‘Canes was a single by Matt Hyde in the second inning. In the top of the sixth, J.C. Dunagan walked, stole second, and reached third on a pass ball, but a pop out and two strikeouts left him stranded.
On Wednesday, March 8, the team was to travel to Milledgeville to play Baldwin County. The team is also scheduled to play Putnam County in Social Circle on Saturday, March 11, at 11 a.m. before facing Social Circle at 1:30 p.m.
Jr. Varsity & Mid-School
The ‘Cane Junior Varsity team traveled to Eastside in Covington on Thursday, March 2, and lost their first game 11-1. However, they bounced back strong on Monday, March 6, to defeat Baldwin County in Millidgeville 21-5. Their first home game was to be played on Wednesday, March 8 in a rematch with Eastside.
The Middle School ‘Canes, after dropping their first game to Morgan County last week, traveled to Greensboro on Friday, March 3 and defeated Greene County 11-3 to even their record at 1-1.
Also, on Tuesday, March 7 the team traveled to Monroe, and lost a close one to Carver by a score of 8-6. Their next game is scheduled for Friday, March 10 in Social Circle at 4:30 p.m.