Lee Boyd insists the gray hair is there.
He tips his cap and, sure enough, there are a few specks of gray on the sides of his head.
It remains to be seen just how much of that gray Boyd can blame on his New Hope High School baseball team.
New Hope made it a little easier on their coach Thursday night, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 13-7 victory against West Point in a Class 5A, Region 2 game at Trojan Field.
“We kind of have been up and down this year, but our guts play so hard,” Boyd said. “Our guys make some young mistakes at times, but we have had very good pitching performances and we have had five or six games where we have come back. We also have the capability to be up 10-1 and to blow one very easily.
“You”re always on the edge of your seat when you watch us. It has been a fun year. They have given me white hair. It is all over the place.”
The victory helped New Hope (18-6, 5-3 district) secure at least second place in the race to be one of the district”s three teams to qualify for the North State playoffs.
Division leader Oxford (5-2) was scheduled to play Saltillo today and to face West Point on Tuesday. New Hope would need to beat Saltillo on Tuesday and have Oxford lose its final two games to clinch to the top seed in the district.
West Point controls its destiny. A win Tuesday against Oxford would help the Green Wave (11-10, 3-5) secure the third and final playoff berth. West Point can still advance if it loses because it took two of three games from Saltillo in the regular season.
On Thursday, New Hope scored six runs in the bottom of the first with two outs to set the tone. Dusty Dyson had an RBI double to get things started after the Trojans capitalized on an error to open the frame.
Kameron Bryan (RBI), Zac Nagy, and Landon Boyd (RBI) had singles before Trae Collins” double brought home two runs. An outfield error allowed New Hope to score another run before Taylor Stafford singled and then was thrown out to close the scoring.
Dyson had a two-run home run in the second, and Stafford launched a two-run home run to right field in the fifth.
Landon Boyd started and pitched into the fifth to get the victory. Stafford pitched the final 1 2/3 innings.
Boyd said the team has been so fun to be around because it works so hard and has a poise and resiliency that belies its youth. While the Trojans have six seniors, there are plenty of underclassmen, like Stafford, a freshman, Collins, a sophomore, and Will Golsan, who plays shortstop, just to name three, who have made key contributions.
“We have some young guys on JV who are stepping up, too,” Boyd said.
West Point coach Buddy Wyers said his team helped seal its fate in the first inning by committing too many mistakes. He said he credited his team with five errors (not three as shown on the scoreboard) in the bottom of the first.
“That does a lot from the psychological standpoint for your opponent,” Wyers said. “They don”t care how they get them, just like we don”t care how we get them. If you give them six or seven, it turns the momentum in a big way. From that point on, it affected everything they did (17 hits) and everything we did.”
Will Harrell started for West Point and showed good control, but Wyers said his team failed to convert scoring opportunities. The Green Wave failed to hit the ball as well Thursday as they did in the first matchup against New Hope in Columbus. West Point smacked the ball around Trojan Field en route to 15 runs before lightning and rain forced the game to revert back to the fifth inning.
West Point continued to hit the ball after that win, but it had four hits against Oxford and has struggled to get to double digits in hits since then.
“We”re just struggling at the plate pretty bad the last week and a half,” Wyers said. “It is coming at a very bad time.”
n Indianola Academy 13, Oak Hill Academy 7: At West Point, Conner Baird, Jeb Stevens, and Clay Henley had two hits, but the Raiders closed the season 9-12 and 2-7 in the district play.
Kody Riley, the team”s only senior, took the loss to fall to 1-5. He allowed eight earned runs and 12 hits. He walked none and struck out four.
Stevens had an RBI and scored a run, Baird scored a run, Henley had two RBIs, Cole Fowler had two hits, including a home run, and an RBI, Riley had two hits, two runs scored, and an RBI, and Adam Tumey had a hit and scored a run.
n Central Academy 14, Kemper Academy 0: At Macon, Rowdy Rigdon earned the victory in the five-inning game that pushed the Vikings (7-8, 5-3 district) a win from clinching a spot in the playoffs.
Will Disbrow had a single, triple, and three RBIs, Drew Pearson and Christopher Newman had two hits and scored three runs, Rigdon had two hits, and Ferris McGuire, Matt Taylor, and Britt Reynolds each had hits.
Central Academy is scheduled to play at 6 tonight against Hebron Christian. It also is scheduled for a 10 a.m. game against Immanuel Christian. That game will be the continuation of a game that was tied 3-3 Monday before rain forced it to be suspended.
n Sumter Academy 13, Pickens Academy 7, 10 innings: At Carrollton, Ala., Bryant Fikes and Cody McDaniel had two hits, but the Pirates lost in extra innings.
Joel Pratt (0-1) took the loss. He allowed four runs in five innings while striking out five and walking four.
Chase Davidson had a double and an RBI, and Forrest Lewis had a single, double, and four RBIs.
n In other action Thursday, Immanuel Christian swept a doubleheader from Calhoun Academy. The Rams won the first game 20-10.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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