Southeast hangs on for victory
By By Ryan Satcher / staff writer
March 23, 2003
The Northeast Trojans dug themselves a hole on Saturday night against visiting Southeast, and the Tigers were able to hold on to an early lead for a 7-5 win.
The Tigers jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first four innings of the game and held off a strong Northeast charge to pick up the victory and improve to 6-5 on the year.
The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Brett Harper and James Pierce put together back-to-back infield singles to start the rally. Brandon Booker followed with an RBI single for a 1-0 advantage.
Northeast pitcher Fred Fulton struck out the next Southeast hitter and looked to get out of the inning
He struck out another Tiger batter to get what would have been the third out, but the third strike was in the dirt and the throw to first went off the first baseman's glove to allow two runners to score for a 3-0 Tigers' lead.
The Tigers scored another run in the third inning when Clay McRee blasted a home run for a 4-0 advantage.
Southeast stretched the lead to six in the fourth inning when Larry Fairchild singled in Pierce and later scored on a Northeast throwing error.
Northeast got one run back in the fourth inning when Nathan Peden and Chad Brunson each singled. Peden moved to third on a passed ball and later scored on a wild pitch to cut Southeast's lead to 6-1.
After Southeast scored another run on a single by Pierce, Northeast began to make a comeback.
Drew Anderson knocked in Cory Chance, who had reached base on a double, to make the score 7-2.
In the sixth inning, Brunson reached base on a wild pitch, after a strike out to start a rally. Jacob Garrett singled up the middle, and the ball got past the outfield to allow a run to score.
Garrett moved to third on the play and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 7-4. Jonathan White walked and Ryan Stewart reached on a strikeout to give Northeast runners on first and second.
Southeast pulled pitcher Philip Butler to put in Pierce in the pressure situation. Pierce got a double-play ground ball to end the inning.
Anderson homered in the seventh inning to cut the lead down to 7-5, but Southeast held on to take the victory.
Northeast drops to 8-8 on the year with the loss. The Trojans will face Magee in a big district game on Tuesday and will also play Florence and Mendenhall this week.
