CALEDONIA — The Caledonia High School baseball team struggled to hit with two out in all three of its losses entering Tuesday’s home game against Lamar County (Alabama).
So when senior first baseman Tony Brooks stepped to the plate with two down in the bottom of the first inning with the bases loaded and the Confederates already facing a 3-0 deficit, Caledonia coach Travis Garner knew the importance of the situation.
If Brooks made an out to end the inning, the threat would be deflated, and Garner would have to send talented but mercurial sophomore pitcher Josh Pitts out for the second while facing a sizable early deficit.
But Brooks came through with a two-run single into left field, and sophomore designated hitter Will Donald followed with a double to drive in two more runs. All of a sudden, Caledonia had the lead.
“That flipped the whole game,” Garner said.
As a result, Pitts settled down, the ‘Feds didn’t allow another run, and Caledonia’s offense kicked things into gear in an eventual 13-3 win in five innings on the run rule. Caledonia improved to 8-3 with the victory.
“We don’t ever really want to get down on ourselves to where we can’t come back, because we know we can,” Donald said. “Sometimes you just start off slow. We were able to pull together as a team.”
The sophomore — the starting catcher for Caledonia’s junior varsity team — made just his second varsity start of the season Tuesday, but he came up big. In the bottom of the second, he hit his second two-run double in as many innings, a chopper past third base to score senior third baseman Justin Black and junior left fielder Loren Cox.
“Both of his hits kind of busted it open for us,” Garner said.
Junior second baseman Gavin Holloman continued things for a double-happy Caledonia offense with a two-bagger of his own into right center field to score Donald in the second. Holloman also plated Cox and Donald with another double to the same spot in the fourth.
“That’s kind of our bread and butter: just hitting the baseball,” said Donald, who contributed two of his team’s 13 hits on the night. Senior right fielder Peyton McCollum led the way for Caledonia with three.
“Offense hasn’t been our problem,” Garner said. “Our problem is throwing enough strikes and playing defense.”
On Tuesday, those issues reared their heads in the first inning — Caledonia usually has one inning per game where things just go “haywire,” Garner said.
With Lamar County leadoff hitter Houston Avent aboard on a walk, Holloman dropped a toss from junior shortstop JC Dodson that likely would have resulted in a double play. Mason Wise followed with a single, Ethan Wilkins brought home a run on a groundout, and TJ Eskridge doubled home Wise as the Bulldogs went up 3-0.
But Caledonia’s pitching and defense tightened up from there. Holloman’s misplay was the team’s only error, and Pitts improved on his rough first inning on the mound.
“Coach told me I wasn’t going back out there if I didn’t get in a groove,” Pitts said. “I had to get in a groove.”
He rebounded to strike out the side around a second walk to Avent in the second inning. In the third, he struck out Wise swinging and Wilkins looking before getting Eskridge to ground out to shortstop.
Pitts’ outing came to an end with a 2-0 count on Avent, runners on first and second and two out in the fourth, when fellow 10th grader Jacob Humbers was called in. Humbers struck out Avent looking to end the threat then pitched a scoreless top of the fifth.
“We have confidence in them, and both of them threw well today,” Garner said of his sophomore hurlers.
Caledonia added five runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Black, a single from Cox, a balk and Holloman’s two-run double. In the fifth, McCollum beat out an infield single and senior catcher Nathan McLemore scored the run that put Caledonia at the 10-run mercy rule mark, ending the game.
For Caledonia, the big win was a relief after a string of close games — a 6-4 loss to Fayette County (Alabama) on Friday, an 11-8 win in Saturday’s slugfest with Mantachie and a 2-1, eight-inning victory against Calhoun City on Monday.
“After the grind we’ve had, that there was a good win to come out here and handle their business the way we did,” Garner said.
It’s a big step up from the early portion of last season, Garner said, in which Caledonia’s record suffered while the ‘Feds got acclimated to playing together.
On Tuesday, though, the team showed that won’t be the case this season.
“Last year, we lost while we learned,” Garner said. “This year, we’re able to win games while we’re still learning, so that’s good for us.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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