Vina off to slow start

By Staff
Mike Self, Franklin County Times
After opening the season with a 16-6 rout of Tremont (MS), the Vina Red Devils have stumbled a bit this week with losses to Speake on Monday and Lynn on Tuesday.
"I just haven't gotten our guys ready to play yet, and that's my fault," head coach Greg Hamilton said. "We hit the ball pretty well against Tremont, but the competition wasn't very good. These last two games we're not pitching well, we're not hitting well, and we're not playing very good defense. That's why we're getting beat."
The Red Devils (1-2) led Tuesday's game 4-3 before Lynn scored five unearned runs in the top of the fourth en route to an 8-6 win.
"We made a couple of errors, and they took advantage," Hamilton said.
Vina trimmed the lead to two and had a runner at third with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but Lynn was able to hold on for the win.
"Lynn has a good baseball team," Hamilton said. "They're pretty solid. Their pitcher was throwing high-70s, low-80s all night with a good curveball. That's pretty tough."
The Devils finished with nine hits on the night, three of them by Max Weeks. Paul Wilkins had two doubles and two RBIs, and Brent Townsend had a two-run single. Nash Creekmore added two hits.
Weeks took the loss, allowing eight runs (only three earned) while striking out eight in four innings.
Morgan McCarley pitched three scoreless innings in relief, getting a big lift from his defense in the top of the fifth. With runners at first and second and nobody out, Randy Barnes made a nice catch on a line drive to left field. Both runners were off with the crack of the bat, and Barnes fired back to the infield to start a 7-4-3 triple play.
"I don't think the runners were going with the pitch," Hamilton said. "I think they just thought the ball was not going to be caught. After that play, Morgan settled down and pitched well."
Vina also had a lead in Monday's game against Speake, 5-4 in the fourth inning, before the Bobcats rallied to win 10-6.
"We had some defensive problems against Speake," Hamilton said. "We made way too many errors."
Kyle Green took the loss, and the Red Devils finished with only three hits. Barnes had two hits, and Wilkins added one.
The Red Devils will try to avoid a third straight loss when they host Decatur Heritage Saturday. Vina then travels to Brilliant on Monday.
"We're not where we need to be yet as a team, and I take the blame for that," Hamilton said. "But I still think this group can be as good as any I've had here. We just have to work hard and get better."