By Staff
Not everybody may be familiar with what the letters RISP stand for in baseball, but the T.R. Miller Tigers know them well after they were eliminated in the Class 3A state quarterfinals at Montgomery Academy Friday.
The Eagles eliminated the Tigers for the second year in a row when they swept the best-of-three series with an 8-2 win in game one and a 3-0 triumph in game two.
If one statistic has to be used to determine the Tigers downfall, it is runners in scoring position (RISP) where they were one-for-11 on the day. That included an 0-for-six in game two.
The Tigers (22-8) had control of the first game until midway through. T.R. Miller broke through in the top of the second inning when it converted a double by Tyler Shehan into a run. The Tigers doubled that lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Baxley Raines doubled and scored on Tyler Shehan's RBI single.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the fourth inning when a walk and two errors allowed the Eagles to shave the deficit in half. It also kept the inning alive and Tyson Thomas responded with a two-run homer off Baxley Raines that put Montgomery Academy ahead 3-2.
It was the beginning of the end of the Tigers in game one. The next inning Montgomery Academy (14-13) used a single by Walter Parker, a two-run homer by Davis Wedgeworth and a solo homer by Wes Cutcliffe that extended the Eagles lead to 6-2.
Three singles and a pair of T.R. Miller errors enabled Montgomery Academy to tack on two insurance runs in the sixth inning that accounted for the final 8-2 margin.
With their backs now against the wall, the Tigers had the daunting task of beating Montgomery Academy ace hurler Tripp Swann in game two. Swann threw a one-hit shutout and struck out 12 in a victory over T.R. Miller back in March.
This time the Tigers had only slightly more success. They did nick Swann for five hits, but he once again struck out 12 en route to his second shutout performance against T.R. Miller of the season.
Mackie Jackson threw a four-hitter for the Tigers although he did issue eight walks. All three Eagles runs were scored without the aid of a hit.
Jackson hit Thomas and then walked three straight Montgomery Academy runners in the second inning that forced in the first run of game two and gave Swann all the support he would need.
Two walks followed by two groundouts got Montgomery Academy's second run home in the third inning and a walk and two errors led to the third run in the fifth inning.
Game one
T.R. Miller 011 000 0 – 2 8 5
M. Academy 000 332 X – 8 7 1
Game two
M. Academy 011 010 0 – 3 4 0
T.R. Miller 000 000 0 – 0 5 2