On senior night at Sammy Fletcher Field, Columbus High left-handed pitcher Tyler Blevins took the baseball and completely shut down a confident Caledonia High lineup.
Blevins, who has been used much more frequently as a first baseman this season, scattered four hits for a four-inning shutout in route to a 3-0 victory over crosstown rival Caledonia Saturday evening.
“We wanted to start Tyler on senior night and see how long he could go,” Columbus head coach Jeffrey Cook said. “He, along with the other two guys we pitched, were very good tonight.”
Columbus (14-8) jumped all over Caledonia ace pitcher Cody Alsup in the first inning when Falcons leadoff hitter Jimmy Cockrell tripled off a shot to right-centerfield and was immediately driven home on a ground out on the very next pitch. The run plated by Cockrell would represent the Falcons only earned run of the evening.
Alsup, who came in with a 1.70 earned run average Saturday, had four errors and three walks hurt his chances of getting his fifth win of the season.
“I’ll tell ya – the guy behind the plate [home plate umpire] really messed everything up for us tonight,” Caledonia coach John Wilson said. “I’ll admit that’s not what killed us because we had an error everywhere but how in the heck can our pitcher have three walks tonight after coming in with two total over 37 previous innings?”
Alsup and junior Ryan Unruh recorded 10 strikeouts in six innings after Alsup’s first-inning strikeouts.
Caledonia (16-9) had a big chance to get on the scoreboard in the second inning when the Confederates loaded the bases with just one out but Blevins induced a line-out double play and a strikeout to end the frame.
“We scored seven or eight this afternoon (in a win over West Point) and I guess that’s all we were allowed for the day,” Wilson said. “I didn’t know that was the rule in this game.”
Columbus sophomore Chris McCullough had a double and then two strikeouts on the mound during a hitless fifth inning in a relief role.
The Falcons, who are in a four-way tie in their region at 4-4, are heading into the final game of the regular season knowing a win at Tupelo High School will secure them a playoff spot.
However, a loss brings much more mathematics into the equation than Cook would certainly prefer.
“We’ve got a chart in our dugout that diagrams each situation so we know where we stand,” Cook said. “Here’s all our kids need to understand – we win and we’ll keep playing.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
