Long ball does in Hounds
Published 12:20 am Friday, April 4, 2008
FERRIDAY — Brookhaven Academy played long ball with the Huntington pitchers Thursday night, and the result was not pretty for the Hounds.
The Cougars hit four home runs totaling 11 runs in a 15-1 victory.
“Our pitching is just not where it needs to be,” Huntington assistant coach Leo Eliser said. “You’ve got to have good pitching at this level in order to win.”
Brookhaven got started early with a home run by Will Gatlin off starting pitcher Josh Lee in the top of the first inning to put the Cougars up 2-0.
Brookhaven scored three unearned runs in the third inning to go up 5-0 before the floodgates opened up in the top of the fourth.
With two outs, Brookhaven’s Kolby Byrd blasted a grand slam deep over the right field fence. Two batters later, Caleb Williams lined a ball over almost the same spot of the fence for a two-run shot that put the Cougars up 11-0 and ended Lee’s night on the mound for Huntington.
However, the Cougars weren’t done with the power display.
Following an RBI single by Jameson Wright in the top of the fifth, Byrd put a capper on the evening with a three-run shot, just over the right field fence.
Tyler Peré got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth with a homer of his own, but that was all the Hounds would get and the game was called due to the mercy rule.
Byrd finished the game 2-for-3 with two homers and seven RBIs while Gatlin and Williams were also 2-for-3.
The Hounds only managed three hits in the game.
With the loss, Huntington dropped to 8-12 on the season. However, Eliser doesn’t think his team is as bad as the record shows.
“I honestly think we have a good club,” he said. “We just haven’t put it all together.”
The Hounds next chance to put it together will be tonight at WCCA in a critical district game. The Hounds are 3-4 in District 6-A.
“We’ll go to Woodville and try it again,” Eliser said. “We’ve got four regular season games left and we’re going to be there every time and see what we can do.”