Baseball notebook: ACCS, Cathedral to meet on diamond again Tuesday

Published 12:00 am Monday, March 11, 2013

JAY SOWERS | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Cathedral starting pitcher Austin Chauvin delivers a pitch during the first inning of Tuesday's game against Adams County Christian School.

JAY SOWERS | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Cathedral starting pitcher Austin Chauvin delivers a pitch during the first inning of Tuesday’s game against Adams County Christian School.

NATCHEZ — Austin Chauvin pitched a great game against Adams County Christian School last week before his pitch limit caught up to him.

Chauvin went six scoreless innings against ACCS, giving up one hit and five walks while striking out 10 batters. After giving the Green Wave a 3-0 lead in the top of the seventh, Cathedral (4-2) coughed up the lead and eventually lost 6-4.

Now, the Green Wave will face ACCS (3-4) again Tuesday at the Rebels’ home field, and Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said he’s hoping to see a different outcome.

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“I thought Chauvin did a great job,” Beesley said. “I probably pulled him out of the game too early. Looking back in hindsight, I didn’t make the right decision, but I’m hoping to get another good performance against him. I hope we can come out and swing the bats a little better.”

ACCS, meanwhile, will face Franklin County High School tonight before Tuesday’s showdown with Cathedral. Head coach Hunter McKeivier said he’s hoping his team will be up for the challenge of playing two good baseball teams.

“Ultimately, we have to be focused,” McKeivier said. “We’ve got to continue to play better defense, get good pitching and get the timely hits. We have to get some clutch hitting from our guys.”

McKeivier also said he’s expecting another dogfight when his Rebels host the Green Wave Tuesday.

“Cathedral’s a great team,” McKeivier said. “Coach Beesley, I’ve known him for years, and I know he’s going to have his squad ready to play. What we have to do is go out and control what we can control.”

Natchez High School

After losing big to Terry High School 12-0 Friday night, the Bulldogs dropped a pair Saturday to McComb and Port Gibson in the Port Gibson tournament.

But head coach Brian Kossum said he’s seen some positives from his players, though he stressed that they still need to improve.

“We’re still struggling at the plate, but I feel like we’re making strides in certain areas,” he said. “Our defense is playing well at times, and our pitching has been inconsistent, but we’re getting better there.

“The main thing is attitude, and for the most part, even though we’ve started the season off slow, they’re staying positive and continuing to work. We have some good seniors that do a good job of leading.”

After spring break this week, NHS (1-5) will host Brandon High School Tuesday, March 19.

Trinity Episcopal

Trinity Episcopal Day School fell to Silliman Institute 13-8 Saturday to remain winless on the season at 0-5.

Saints head coach Kyle Ketchings said errors have been a big culprit as his team continues to show improvement in other areas.

“Our team has to cut down on errors,” Ketchings said. “We have to cut down on the unearned runs, because we give up way too many. I think we’re coming around and starting to hit the ball well the more games we play, but if the number of errors doesn’t drop, we’re not going to go very far.”

Trinity will play at Riverfield Academy today.