Chicago Cub great Ernie Banks always wanted to play two. The weather last Saturday was so wonderful I took in five and two more if you count Friday night.
I began Friday night at Odis Logan Field where the Trojans were scalping the Chieftains from Okolona. It was a bit painful to watch as the Okolona baseball program is still struggling to get off the ground.
Bruce swept the double-header 28-0 and 15-0 with both games only going the minimum three innings.
Joel McNeece
Fifteen different Trojans recorded a hit in the first game. Okolona didn’t have 15 players on their roster. I couldn’t help but feel for those kids and was thankful rules allowed it to be stopped after only three innings rather than five.
I traveled to Calhoun City after the first Bruce game where the Wildcats were hosting Eupora in a crucial division game. It’s what you would expect among these rivals – a 3-3 game heading to the last inning. ‘City’s Kemon Hall came up with the clutch hit, and James Hervey drove him home where Hall was mobbed by teammates. It was a fabulous high school baseball game.
Saturday, Calhoun City played host to the annual county softball tournament that rotates between Bruce, Vardaman and ‘City.
The Lady Wildcats and Lady Rams opened play and the girls from Vardaman proved solid winning 6-0.
The highlight of the game for me was Genna Grace Edmondson’s deep home run that sailed directly over the “Calhoun County Journal” sign on the left field fence. Genna Grace, by the way, is signing with Northeast this Wednesday where she will play with former teammate Whittney Gee.
I left before the middle game started to visit Calhoun Academy and Bruce. The Cougars were hosting Central from Macon. The game didn’t turn out as CA preferred, but it’s nice to see the Cougars playing baseball on their own field.
I left for Bruce where the Trojans were hosting Hickory Flat and quickly blew open a tight game for another runaway win that included a Cade Clark home run. Every time I’m at a Trojans’ game I’m overwhelmed by the improvements made at the field in recent years, particularly the scoreboard, which is truly something to see.
With that game in hand, I raced back to ‘City and was fortunate to find game two was just entering the final inning where the Lady Trojans held on for an 8-7 victory over Vardaman behind the rifle arm of freshman Abbie Patton.
I was seeing freshmen Bailey Massey and Jessica Aron sliding into bases in my sleep Saturday night. It’s unreal how often they’re on base.
Bruce would follow that up with a 10-3 win over Calhoun City to win the county tournament title.
I’m impressed with the Vardaman team led by Edmondson and Laci Jo Fugett. They look capable of a deep run in Class 1A.
The Lady Trojans, still a predominant freshman led team, look better every time I see them.
The Lady Wildcats are badly missing Holmes signee Charlesy Lovorn in the heart of their order, but that should change in the coming weeks, and I expect it to have an impact on them going forward this season.
I’m scheduled to spend Friday and Saturday of this week with the Vardaman Rams and am sure I’ll mix in several other games weather permitting. It’s that time of year.
Email Joel McNeece at joelmcneece@gmail.com & follow him on Twitter @joelmcneece