By By Adam Robinson
Sports Editor
T.R. Miller Tiger head baseball coach Jim Hart told his team before their game against W.S. Neal on Monday at home that it had been a while since they had beat the W.S. Neal Eagles.
The team took the message to heart as they jumped out to an early 2-0 and 8-2 lead to defeat the Eagles 8-5.
The Tigers improved to 6-10 overall with the win while W.S. Neal fell to 10-7.
T.R. Miller last defeated W.S. Neal at home on March 28 last season in the second game of a doubleheader.
Since then, the Tigers had lost three straight to the Eagles and was 1-3 against them last year and finished the season 1-2 against them this season.
In the game Monday in Brewton, T.R. Miller starting pitcher Rob Knowles kept the Eagles off-balanced the whole game.
Knowles went the complete game seven innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on just two hits, struck out seven and walked five in the win.
Tyler Cross took the loss on the mound for the Eagles in relief of starter William Shell.
Shell went the first two innings and allowed two runs on two hits, walked two and struck out two.
Cross went 2 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on four hits and struck out one.
Keith Bradley relieved Cross in the bottom of the fifth with one out and went 2/3 of an inning allowing one runs on two hits, walked one and struck out one.
Christian Purvis went 2/3 of an inning and allowed one run on two hits, walked none, struck out one and hit two.
Brian Settle went the final 1/3 of an inning and allowed no runs, no hits, walked none and struck out none.
William Shell was 1-for-3 and Taylor Cash was 1-for-2 for the lone two Eagle hits.
Cash had an RBI along with Purvis, and Logan Williamson.
Garrett Robinson was 3-for-4 for T.R. Miller and Wes Dickey was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double.
Sam Sharpe was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double and John Mathieu was 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Corey Rilling was 1-for-4 with a double in the win.
T.R. Miller struck first in the game with two runs in the bottom of the first inning off a double by Dickey.
The Eagles scored two runs of their own in the top of the second to tie the game at 2-2.
T.R. Miller then scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to claim a 6-2 lead after five innings.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, T.R. Miller added two more runs to get an 8-2 lead before W.S. Neal scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut the lead to 8-5.
Knowles then struck out the final two Eagles of the game to preserver the three-run lead to give T.R. Miller the win.
Bayside Academy 17, T.R. Miller 4
Usually, when one team holds another team to just four hits and they have nine hits, the team with nine hits wins.
That was not the case Friday night in Brewton as T.R. Miller held Bayside Academy to four hits and had nine of their own but lost 17-4 to fall to 5-10 overall and 2-4 in area play.
The Tigers led 3-1 after three innings and trailed 5-3 after five innings.
In the top of the sixth inning, Bayside scored 12 runs on three walks and five hit batters to grab a 17-3 lead.
The Tigers allowed 15 runners on base due to a walk or a hit batter and allowed 21 runners on base with six errors.
Of the 17 total runs for Bayside Academy, only three were earned runs.
T.R. Miller scored two runs in the first inning to grab an early 2-0 lead before Bayside added on in the top of the third inning to cut the lead to 2-1.
T.R. Miller added one run in the bottom of the third to grab a 3-1 lead and held the lead until Bayside’s four runs in the fifth inning and 12 in the sixth inning.
Sam Sharpe got the start on the mound and the loss.
Rob Knowles, Wil Riggs, and John Mathieu also pitched in the loss for the Tigers.
Sharpe was 2-for-3 at the plate for the Tigers with three RBIs and a triple.
Wes Dickey was 2-for-3 with a double and Grant DeFrancisco was 2-for-3.
Conner Denton was also 2-for-3 at the plate for the Tigers in the loss and Mathieu was 1-for-3 with a double.