STARKVILLE — A strike here and a key out there, and Starkville Academy would have found itself in a battle with Washington School on Tuesday night.
But clutch hitting helped turn the game into the second rout of the day.
The Volunteers scored eight of their 10 runs with two outs to back up a combined no-hitter by Wyatt Johnson, Porter Skelton and Jackson Redmond and posted a 10-0 five-inning win in the second game of a doubleheader.
The Vols were even more dominant in a 14-1 win in the opener.
“We really talked about hitting with two strikes and that two-out hits win ball games,” Starkville Academy coach Thomas Berkery said. “I’ve been hearing that since my days at Mississippi State 15 years ago. That’s something we talk about a lot and take pride in.”
It showed. After Washington freshman Tyler Jennings struck out the first two batters in the third inning, Vols right fielder Randall Futral reached on an infield throwing error. Perhaps frustrated by not getting out of the inning, Jennings then plunked Ayden Alsobrooks.
Futral and Alsobrooks pulled off a double steal, with Generals catcher Charley Dunn electing to throw down to second. A poor throw allowed Futral to score and Alsobrooks to take third. Jennings compounded that by hitting Colby Allen.
Center fielder Cooper McNeel belted a two-run double to right. A walk brought up Will McReynolds, who sent a two-run single to right. McReynolds stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Hayes Davis to cap the six-run outburst.
“This is a senior-laden group; we’ve got seven guys committed,” Berkery said. “I mean, it’s kind of what you expect. Our lineup is not easy to pitch to.”
More evidence of that came in the first inning. Alsobrooks worked out a two-out walk to bring up Allen, who sent a line drive over the fence in left-center for an early 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, everyone the Volunteers sent to the mound did his job. Johnson pitched a perfect first with two strikeouts, Skelton retired all six batters he faced with two strikeouts, and Redmond overcame a bit of wildness to pitch two hitless innings, striking out four.
“Just getting guys work,” said Berkery, noting that Vols pitchers threw 30 first-pitch strikes to 34 batters faced in the doubleheader. “We had a couple of guys that hadn’t been on the mound in a couple of weeks, and a couple of guys who had long outings last time from a pitch-count standpoint.
“Last week we were probably on the flip side of that.”
Berkery was referring to a series against Magnolia Heights, which stopped the Vols’ nine-game winning streak in the first game and went on to a three-game sweep.
“Last week was a bit of an oddity for us from a pitching perspective just because we walked so many guys, which is not normal for us,” Berkery said. “Tip your hat to Mag. They took some borderline pitches, laid off bounced breaking balls with two strikes. You’ve got to tip your hat to them, but we’ve got to do better in the strike zone against good teams.”
The Vols did fine against a weaker team. The trio used a combined 69 pitches to complete the five-inning game, with Skelton being especially efficient, throwing 19 pitches in two perfect innings.
“They’re down; they’re young,” Berkery said of the Generals. “They’re scrappy, but they’re really young, so that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
Starkville Academy 14, Washington 1: In the opener, Harris McReynolds and Futral hit back-to-back home runs during a 12-run first inning for the Vols in a game halted in the middle of the fourth inning by the run rule.
Evan Siary hit a two-run double during the rally and finished 2 for 2 with three RBIs for the Vols. Davis, Futral and Alsobrooks also went 2 for 2 for Starkville Academy, which outhit Washington 13-2.
Drew Williams, Will McReynolds and Allen combined on the four-inning two-hitter. They combined to strike out eight and walk one.
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