STARKVILLE — Heritage Academy took Game 1 of a three-game series against Starkville Academy on Tuesday, breaking the matchup open with a six-run third inning in a 7-1 win in Starkville.
The Patriots set the tone of the game on the mound before their offense came to life, and they’re positioned well to take the series in the home doubleheader this evening.
The Patriots (9-13) struggled to find wins early in their nondistrict schedule, but have taken at least one game from every district series, and ace pitcher Cooper Long is a big reason why.
Romano spoke highly of Long’s contributions this season, stepping into his role to lead the rotation and accept a big responsibility in leading the team. It’s paid off well for the Patriots, who now have a great chance to win the series at home today.
“Coop has been our No. 1 all year,” Romano said of the junior ace. “He’s a guy who has been challenged, had some rough spots that we had to work through. We challenged him and gave him the opportunity to be our ace, and he’s been lights out in every district game. Anytime we can get a game like that it sets the tone for the rest of the week.”
Long showed off his pitching arsenal with some off-speed, throwing up zeros in six innings and striking out six through a full game of work.
Pitchers Long and Tanner McKee squared off with strong opening innings, but the third became a golden opportunity for the Patriots. McKee got two quick outs but a pair of walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for Adyn Westmoreland, who obliged with a line drive to the outfield wall for a bases-clearing double.
“Adyn is another kid who recently hasn’t been hitting the way he expects, a guy we challenged to be a clean up hitter,” Romano said. “He stepped up with a huge double to bust the game open for us.”
Long followed up with an RBI hit of his own, followed by another RBI from Presley Gaskin and Kaden Avery stealing home on a wild pitch. In a flash, the Patriots had established a 6-0 lead.
The Volunteers got one run back in the home half of the third, but couldn’t claw their way back into the game.
“We had opportunities the first couple of innings with runners and we just couldn’t come through with a big hit,” Starkville Academy coach Lee Berryhill said. “They had the third inning where they made it happen, I think we may have walked the leadoff batter that inning and we had an error, then they had the big hit to the wall. They capitalized on what they needed to at the time they needed it and we didn’t.”
McKee did well to steady the ship after the third, getting nine strikeouts in seven innings on the mound. The third inning proved too tall of a mountain for the Vols offense to overcome, but McKee’s pitching gave them time to mount the comeback attempt.
“He gave up the big inning but came right back out to hold them down,” Berryhill said of McKee. “He bounced back and did his job, we just have to flush this one and move on. We’ll stay with our rotation. Minus one guy who is out the rest of the year, but it’s next man up as they say and we’ll go there and try to do what we’ve been doing all year.”
The Vols (15-6) will try and get back in the series at Heritage today. The first game will begin at 4 p.m., with the second game following a half hour after the conclusion of the first.
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