Cougars Fall in Playoffs

The Piedmont Academy baseball team pushed Memorial Day Academy to the limit, but when all the smoke had cleared, the Diamond Cougars saw their 2006 season come to a close Tuesday in Savannah.

Piedmont lost the third and deciding game 11-2 to complete what turned out to be a surprisingly strong season in which coach Danny Camp’s team finished second in Region 1-AA and was ranked as high as third in the state. Memorial Day, which won the series’ first game 12-3 before falling 9-3 in the second contest, now advances to the Class AA Final Four.

“I am so proud of our team,” Camp said Wednesday morning after returning home.

“They worked so hard to get to this point. We did something we haven’t done a few years. We advanced in the playoffs and also won a game in the quarterfinals. We could have hung it up after losing the first game, but we got off the deck and won the second game.”

Camp said playing on a college field was an adjustment for his players as they had to quickly adjust to covering more territory in the outfield. The series was played on the field used by Savannah College of Art and Design.
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“It took us a while in the first game to learn how to cover that much area,” the Piedmont coach said. “We also didn’t hit the ball like we are capable of. When we did get a big hit, it seemed like there was already two outs.”

The Cougars did have some success at the plate as Cris Jackson was 2-for-4 with an RBI in the first game while Zack Kenny went 2-for-2. Kenny’s was the most productive offensive player for Piedmont in the series going 7-for-8 overall. Kenny was a perfect 3-for-3 in the third game of the series Tuesday with a double, two singles and an RBI.
Randy Reagin was 2-for-3 and drove in two runs in Piedmont’s win in game two. Brent Brown, the team’s lone senior this season, went 1-for-2 in the third game.

Andrew Stevenson was the winning pitcher in game two.

Camp said he plans to have his players compete in summer league play in coming weeks as preparations for the 2007 campaign will begin almost immediately. Early indications are Piedmont should be a contender for its region title with all but one player returning.