Cougars Fall to Brentwood
The Piedmont Academy baseball team saw its 12-game winning streak snapped Tuesday in a 6-1 loss at Brentwood.
Both teams entered the game undefeated in region play, but it would be host Brentwood who took this battle on the strength of some outstanding pitching.
“Their pitcher was throwing around 85 and had several scouts there watching him,” said Cougar coach Danny Camp. “He was impressive. We hadn’t seen anyone that strong since early in the season when we played some AAA teams. We didn’t really have time to prepare for him since we have been playing every day.”
The only option in preparing specifically for Brentwood’s top pitcher, a transfer from Washington County, was to practice Sunday and Camp has always had a policy of not doing that.
“We can compete with them,” the coach said. “We put the ball in play. We’ll be more prepared the next time we play them at our place.”
Piedmont is now 12-5 overall and 7-1 in Region 1-AA play. The two teams are scheduled to meet again April 11 in Monticello. The Cougars still have four region contests remaining and could still capture first by winning out.
Camp’s team entered Tuesday’s game as the No. 3 team in the latest GISA Class AA poll.
“We have to go back to work now,” the coach said. “We need to get back on track and start another winning streak.”
In Tuesday’s game, Taylor Jackson was 2-for-4 while Randy Reagin was 2-for-3 with the team’s RBI.
Prior to Tuesday’s contest, Piedmont rallied to defeat Edmund Burke in a road region contest 17-9. The Diamond Cougars fell behind early, but once again had plenty of offense to come back.
Josh Phillips and Joey Schroeder, who batted eighth and ninth in the lineup, were a combined 6-of-7 with seven RBIs. Zack Kenny, Randy Reagin and Andrew Stevenson each pitched in Monday’s contest.
“It seems like someone different is leading us each game,” Camp said. “The players never panicked when we got behind early and didn’t try to catch up with one swing.”
The Piedmont Academy varsity baseball team will host Calvary Christian today, March 30, at 4 p.m. before being off for spring break next week.
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Before this week’s action, the Diamond Cougars rallied for a 14-4 win against LaGrange Academy on the road.
While the final score sounds like a one-sided affair, Piedmont had to rally from a 4-2 deficit for the win.
The Cougars pushed two runs across in the top of the first, but then went down in order in the both the second and third innings. Meanwhile, LaGrange had tied the score in the bottom of the second, benefiting from three errors.
The host Warriors then went up 4-2 in the bottom of the third after the Cougars made two more errors.
Things turned around in the fifth, however, as Camp’s team continued to be disciplined at the plate and eventually scoring 12 runs to bust the game open.
“We didn’t panic when we fell behind,” Camp said of the LaGrange game. “We took advantage of our hits, walks and their errors to get back in the game.”
Key hits in the fifth inning came from Brent Brown, Josh Phillips and Cris Jackson, who had a three-run homer.
Brown started the game working the first three innings giving up one earned run and two hits. Reagin earned the win in relief throwing the fourth and fifth innings giving up no hits or runs and striking out two batters.
Taylor Jackson and Reagin were both 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs while Clint Fields, Andrew Stevenson, Brown and Phillips each drove in runs.
Piedmont had no trouble with Curtis Baptist last Friday taking a 16-1 win in three innings. The Cougars scored five in the first, eight in the second and three more in the third to win the game on the mercy rule.
Brown was the winning pitcher throwing only 30 pitches. Fields and Stevenson were both 2-for-2 at the plate.
Last Thursday saw Piedmont defeat Monroe Academy 9-0 behind a strong outing from Cris Jackson, who improved to 3-1 by going the distance recording 11 strikeouts.
Camp said it was good to see one of his pitchers go the distance. He noted Cris Jackson is pitching well and doing well offensively at the plate.
Against Monroe, Reagin was 2-for-3 while freshman Justin Atkins was 3-for-4. Stevenson drove in two runs and Zack Kenny was 2-for-2.