ACCS seeks win today at Pillow

Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 11, 2000

Pillow Academy head baseball coach Jack Henderson hopes his team picks up where it left off when the Mustangs host Adams County Christian School today at 4:30 p.m. in an MPSA&160;AAAA state semifinal contest.

Pillow is located in Greenwood.

ACCS&160;leads the series 1-0 after winning the first game 4-3 Tuesday at ACCS. If Pillow wins the first game, a second game will follow.

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Jason Wimberly held Pillow to one run through six innings before the Mustangs scored two runs on three hits in the seventh inning and had the tying run at third base and the go-ahead run at second base when Tucker Bullard went down swinging to end the game.

&uot;We knew hits would be hard to come by,&uot; Henderson said. &uot;Every coach we talked to said what a great pitcher Jason Wimberly is. At the same time, if we could have just rolled in a couple of hits, we could have pulled it out. We left the bases loaded in the second and third innings and two on in the seventh.&uot;

Pillow, 23-5, finished first in the North AAAA&160;Conference.

ACCS, 19-10, finished second in South AAAA to Parklane.

&uot;The only way we can look at this is to try and get the first one and hope we can get the second game,&uot; Henderson said. &uot;We need to get it to a winner-takes-all game. Adams has a very good baseball team. Anybody who can finish second in South 4A is got to be tough. But at the same time we think we have a good team, too. It’s a very good series and one that can go either way.&uot;

Wayne Nobile started on the mound for Pillow Tuesday, giving up seven hits, including a home run by Ryan Davis.

Henderson said Noah Taylor, who played shortstop Tuesday, will start the second game today. The junior is 6-0 on the season with a 1.29 earned run average.

Jonathan Nichols, who played second base Tuesday, will start a third game, if Pillow wins the second game.

Nichols, who signed a football scholarship with Ole Miss as a kicker, is 6-3 on the mound with an ERA of 2.59.

&uot;The last three years, Jonathan has thrown the tough games for me,&uot; Henderson said. &uot;One may be a little hotter than the other, but the other is used to the big-game scenario.&uot;

ACCS&160;head coach Chad Lipscomb said Tuesday that Christopher Rayborn will start the second game today, while Russ Marks and Hayden Wadsworth will be ready for a third game, if necessary.

The winner of today’s game(s) faces Parklane next week for the state title. Parklane swept Starkville.

&uot;We had a good practice (Thursday) and hopefully we can take one and have a rematch with Parklane,&uot; said AC coach Chad Lipscomb. &uot;We need Christopher to have a big game and some guys who have not been hitting the ball to step up and hit it.&uot;