Tigers win two in ASC tourney

Published 12:25 am Friday, February 26, 2010

LIBERTY — The Centreville Academy Tigers won both of their games Thursday afternoon at the Amite School Center Tournament, defeating a pair of area teams in the process.

First, Centreville got a strong pitching performance from Randy Bell in a 5-0 win over the Trinity Episcopal Saints. Bell pitched a two-hitter and got some early help from the offense.

The Tigers scored two runs in both the top of the first and the top of the second innings and added another run in the top of the third inning. Ethan Noland went 2-for-2 and Corey Gaulden had a double.

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“We got a great pitching performance from Randy. We hit the ball well at times. Had minimum mistakes on the base pathes but we played good defensively,” Centreville head coach Jason Horne said.

Givonni Dent was the losing pitcher for Trinity Episcopal (0-2) as he gave up five runs on five hits. The Saints also committed two errors.

Trinity Episcopal will take on Columbia Academy today at 3 p.m. in its final game of this tournament.

Centreville had a tougher time against Wilkinson County Christian Academy as it fell behind 3-1 after one inning of play before rallying for a 7-4 win in four innings thanks to five Rams errors in the final two innings.

The Tigers led 1-0 going into the bottom of the first inning. Then they committed a few errors of their own before Hunter Travis gave up a three-run home run to Sutton Olive. That would be one of the few mistakes Travis made on the mound.

“(Sutton) Olive came up on the first pitch and a three-run shot,” WCCA head coach Ray Olive said. “Then (Trey) McCants gave us a home run in the third that tied the score.”

“We had three errors in the bottom of the first. We just had mental breakdowns defensively and they capitalized on them,” Horne said.

Centreville had scored one run in the top of the second and then two in the top of the third to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead before McCants’s solo home run tied it up at 4-4. Then the Rams self-destructed in the top of the fourth after allowing the Tigers to take their second lead of the game on some defensive miscues.

“We made two errors in the third and three in the fourth that gave them the lead,” Olive said. “Overall I was pleased. We have some things we need to clean up. Centreville’s a good team.”

As for the home runs Travis gave up, Horne said, “It was called low and outside. He lifted it right over the middle of the plate.”

Travis was the winning pitcher for Centreville (5-1). Aside from the two homers, he allowed just one other hit over four innings. Bell had a double for the Tigers.

“He pitched great. He got loose in the last inning and showed us what he could do. He went three-up, three-down,” Horne said.

“Travis was very effective as a pitcher. He had two pitches that didn’t quite hit the spot. Otherwise, he pitched an excellent game,” Olive said.

Centreville goes up against Columbia Academy today at 5 p.m. and WCCA (1-1) will take on host Amite School Center today at 7 p.m.