Trojans start with win

By By Marty Stamper/EMG sports assistant
April 24, 2004
In any double-elimination tournament, winning the first game is crucial to a team's success.
Northeast Lauderdale accomplished that goal in the MHSAA Class 4A four-team regional the Trojans are hosting with an 11-8 win over Vancleave Friday night at Glynn Frazier Field.
Friday's other game saw Florence rally from a 5-0 deficit to knock off d'Iberville 7-5.
In today's action, Northeast takes on Florence in a winners' bracket game at noon, with d'Iberville taking on Vancleave in an elimination contest at 3 p.m. The noon loser will face the 3 p.m. winner at 6 p.m. in another elimination game.
Northeast 11
Vancleave 8
The Trojans scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning, then added four more in the fourth after Vancleave had rallied to within 6-5 in taking the second game Friday.
Cory Chance (9-2) went 6.2 innings to get the win. He allowed 10 hits and eight runs, six of which were earned. Chance struck out seven to run his season's total to 101.
Jason Pritchett recorded the final out in relief to earn a save.
In the six-run first, Chad Brunson and Mark Snyder had RBI doubles with Chris Oubre's two-bagger plating a pair of runs. Andrew Siciliano's sacrifice fly made it 6-0.
Vancleave, 20-11, got a three-run homer from Walter Pennington in the top of the second and a two-run single from losing pitcher Drew Holmes in the third to close to within 6-5.
Chance started a two-out rally in the fourth with a single. After another single by Brunson, Jeremy Barnacastle ripped a two-run double to center field and Nathan Peden launched a towering two-run home run over the wall in right field for a 10-5 lead.
Northeast added another run in the sixth on a two-out throwing error on a pickoff attempt at third base.
The Bulldogs got three runs in the top of the seventh with Pennington hitting an RBI single and Ty Summerlin adding a two-run single before Pritchett ended the game with a strikeout.
Brunson and Chance both had two hits for the Trojans as they improved to 20-8. Barnacastle, Peden, and Oubre each had two RBIs.
Pennington went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and scored twice to lead Vancleave. Summerlin went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Holmes also had two hits and two RBIs.
Florence 7
d'Iberville 5
d'Iberville led 5-0 after three innings, but Florence scored three times in both the fifth and sixth frames to improve to 20-9.
Niles Moseley tied the game at 5-5 with an RBI double in the top of the sixth. Max Henderson's single put the Eagles up 6-5 and a fielder's choice by Chris Godfrey plated an insurance run.
Godfrey went 3-for-4 with a double to lead Florence. Moseley and Kyle Clinton had RBI doubles.
Terrence Griffith got the win.
d'Iberville, 20-10, went up 5-0 on a two-run homer by Glendel Madden in the bottom of the third. Nathan Diaz had an RBI double in the first with Matt Magee adding a run-scoring single.
Magee finished with a single and a double. Jake Olier had a double for the Warriors.