STARKVILLE – Starkville Academy baseball coach Brooks Roberts was happy to look in his dugout and see it full Thursday night.
After playing a pair of games without five starters due to the basketball and soccer playoffs, the Volunteers were back at full strength.
Roberts won his first game as the school’s head coach and Starkville Academy sent a message with an 8-1 victory over Oak Hill Academy at Volunteer Field.
“The first one is always special,” Roberts said. “We played well tonight. We played as a team. It was good to have a full team so we could play as a team. We talked about how one swing of the bat could change a game.”
That swing of the bat took place in the fourth inning.
Sophomore team co-captain Will Miller slammed a home run down the right field line to lead off the Starkville Academy fourth inning. At the time, the teams were scoreless.
“I was up there trying to make something happen,” Miller said. “I think we were a little over-anxious to start the game. They were getting us out too easily. Kind of felt like one hit could change the game around. Things fell into place for us after that.”
Oak Hill Academy starter Reiley Tate had the Volunteers number through the first three innings.
“We left too many men on base early because we weren’t patient enough,” Roberts said. “The big inning really helped turn the game in our favor. That was a huge at-bat by Will because it got everything going for us.”
The home run kick-started a five-run fourth inning. In that at-bat alone, the Volunteers had four hits. Codie Futral, Kyle Faver and Dillon Carrell also had hits. Carter Roach added a sacrifice-fly.
That would be more than enough offense for the pitching duo of Landen Rogers and Howell Archer. The duo combined on a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
“We really wanted to step up and make a statement in this game,” said Rogers, a senior co-captain. “We got put out in the second round (of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA playoffs) last year and we want to do better than that this year. That has been the big motivation during the off-season. We want to go as far as we can.”
Rogers was touched for a solo home run by Macon McBrayer in the Oak Hill Academy fifth inning. Some nifty defense behind Rogers allowed the Volunteers to escape a potential jam that inning with the Raiders leaving two men in scoring position.
“The defense was really good,” Rogers said. “If we have a deep run this year, it will be because of our defense. We feel like we have some guys who are really good in the field. Other teams are going to have to earn what they get against us.”
Conversely, Oak Hill Academy made four errors during Starkville Academy’s three-run fifth inning. Taylor Arnold got things going with a one-out double. A walk and dropped third strike allowed two more runners to reach base. Faver then had an RBI-single, while a wild pitch sored another run and an error plated the final run.
“The fact that we were able to build on the lead is a good thing,” Miller said. “After (Oak Hill Academy) scored, we came right back and put some more runs up. That is the sign of a veteran team. Our pitching was great all night, so it was good to give them that extra breathing room.”
Futral finished with three of the Volunteers’ nine hits, while Faver was the game’s only other multiple hitter.
“We have hit the ball well (in all three games),” Roberts said. “Tonight, it was good to see the kids rewarded for those hard hits. Everybody was here and we played really well as a team. That is a good sign.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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