By By Adam Robinson – sports editor
Things did not start out pretty for the W.S. Neal Eagle baseball team Monday night at home, but they quickly looked better as the Eagles improved to 2-2 on the year with a 9-5 win over Greenville.
The Eagles endured a first inning two-run homerun by the Tigers but turned the 2-0 deficit into a 9-2 lead and held on for the 9-5 win.
Tyler Cross got the start and the win on the mound for the Eagles as he went the seven-inning complete game, allowing eight hits while striking out 11 Tigers.
Cross also had a good night at the plate along with several other Eagles as they pounded out 11 hits and nine runs in the game.
The win marked the second win of the season for the Eagles and their second on the season over the Tigers after an 8-3 win over the Tigers in Greenville in the Eagles first game of the season.
After enduring the two-run homer in the top of the first inning and falling behind early 2-0, the Eagles stormed back with a three run bottom of the first to take a 3-2 lead.
The two run homer in the first inning were unearned runs for Cross as an error on the Eagles with two outs allowed the inning to continue.
Cross and William Shell led off the inning with a single for the Eagles as Jacob Cannon had a double as the Eagles tied the game at 2-2.
Tyler Brown provided a single in the inning as the Eagles held a 3-2 lead after an inning of play.
In the fourth inning, Cross doubled with one out and a single by Shell put runners on first and third with one out. A walk to Cannon loaded the bases as Tyler Nall doubled scoring two runs to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead at the end of four.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jake Hodge picked up a base on balls as pinch hitter Reid Johnson singled to score Hodge to give the Eagles a 6-2 lead as the Eagles added three more runs to take a 9-2 lead at the end of the fifth.
Another two-run homer in the top of the sixth for the Tigers cut the score to 9-4 and an error in the top of the seventh allowed another run to score for the Tigers to cut the lead to 9-5 as the Eagles hung on for the win.
Cross scored three runs in the game as Shell also scored three. Cannon provided a double and three RBIs as Nall added another double and two RBIs. Johnson provided a single and one RBI.
In the junior varsity game for the Eagles, W.S. Neal avenged a 5-2 loss earlier to the Greenville Tigers and took a 10-5 win Monday afternoon to improve to 1-1 on the season.
Williamson scored two runs in the win as Settle, McGraw, Bradley and Johnson all scored two runs in the win.
In a tournament over the weekend, the Eagles dropped two games and dropped their record to 1-2 on the year.
The Eagles dropped an 8-7 loss to Flomaton and an 18-3 loss to Gulf Breeze.
In the loss to Flomaton, Shell took the loss on the mound as he went 7 inning allowing 12 walks, five strikeouts and nine hits.
Cannon went 2-for-3 in the loss.
In the loss to Gulf Breeze, Tyler Brown went one inning on the mound allowing two walks, two hits, and four runs as Gulf Breeze scored early and often in the game.
Gulf Breeze scored four runs in the first inning and six in the fourth in the win.
Cannon was 1-for-2 as Nall was 1-for-3 with an RBI.