Logan fans 15, Trinity bats come alive as Saints top ACCS 11-1 in 6 innings

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Trinity Episcopal Day School starting pitcher Quinton Logan is congratulated by teammates after not giving up a hit in the first inning during the game against Adams County Christian School at Huntington Field in Ferriday on Tuesday evening.  (Jay Sowers \ The Natchez Democrat)

Trinity Episcopal Day School starting pitcher Quinton Logan is congratulated by teammates after not giving up a hit in the first inning during the game against Adams County Christian School at Huntington Field in Ferriday on Tuesday evening. (Jay Sowers \ The Natchez Democrat)

FERRIDAY — Kyle Ketchings said it was easily his starter’s best game of the year.

The Trinity Episcopal head baseball coached watched as Logan tallied strikeout after strikeout against rival Adams County Christian School en route to an 11-1 win for the Saints Tuesday night.

Logan went six innings, giving up just one unearned run on one hit with 15 strikeouts and five walks for Trinity.

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“He got ahead in counts and was able to throw a first-pitch curve for strikes,” Ketchings said. “If you can get first-pitch strikes, it opens up everything. He worked ahead of batters and pitched his best game of the year. It’s going to be tough to top this game for the rest of his career.”

It also helped that Trinity scored six runs in the first three innings — three in the first, two in the second and one in the third.

“When you get that much run support early, you know you can sacrifice a run or two when you get behind in a count or walk a batter,” Ketchings said. “I can’t explain what that does for a pitcher’s confidence.”

ACCS, meanwhile, tallied just one run on one hit — an RBI single in the top of the third by Brandon Ross that plated Dylan Galbreath, who earlier reached on an error. The Rebels were plagued by repeated mistakes in the field, racking up a whopping 10 errors.

Trinity Episcopal base runner Jared Hedrick, right, slides safely under ACCS catcher Brandon Ross to score a run during the game. Trinity won, 11-1. (Jay Sowers \ The Natchez Democrat)

Trinity Episcopal base runner Jared Hedrick, right, slides safely under ACCS catcher Brandon Ross to score a run during the game. Trinity won, 11-1. (Jay Sowers \ The Natchez Democrat)

“One word: disappointing,” McKeivier said about the game. “It’s as simple as that. I was disappointed in all phases of the game. Don’t get me wrong, Quinton Logan was legitimately lights-out. He was dealing well for them, but we still have to execute better.

“Defensively, when you commit 10 errors, you’re not going to win any ball games. We have to do a better job of giving ourselves a chance.”

McKeivier said the errors were a result of his players coming out flat.

“The game is such a mental game that you have to focus on every situation,” he said. “When you come out flat, you come out unfocused and not ready to go, and that was our downfall tonight.”

Trinity, by contrast, was very focused on the game, Ketchings said. He attributed that to how seriously his players take their rivalry with ACCS.

“We had guys show up 30 minutes before I asked them to be there,” Ketchings said. “Every time Trinity and AC plays, it’s exciting, no matter the outcome.”

Sky Logan led the Saints offensively by being a home run short of the cycle. He went 3-for-3 with a double and a triple to help his younger brother’s cause. Jesse Cable also had a double for Trinity.

The Saints tallied nine hits on the night, and the game ended after Trinity added five more runs in the sixth inning, forcing the 10-runs-after-five mercy rule.

ACCS starter Wade Simpson took the loss, going 5 2/3 innings and yielding nine runs — four earned — on eight hits. He also had 10 strikeouts, four walks and one hit batsman. Tyler Wilson pitched the final 2/3 of an inning for the Rebels.

“Wade did miss some spots, but he pitched well enough for us to win,” McKeivier said. “There were a lot of key situations where we had errors that would have cut it to a 4-1 ball game. When he gets an opportunity to get outs, we have to take them instead of giving them fourth, fifth and sixth chances every inning.”

ACCS (6-9, 0-4) and Trinity (2-11, 1-4) will square off again at 5 p.m. Friday, this time at ACCS.