CCHS drops pitchers’ duel to St. James

Published 11:22 am Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Trenton Bishop (right) attempts to tag out a runner during a pickoff against St. James on Feb. 28.

Trenton Bishop (right) attempts to tag out a runner during a pickoff against St. James on Feb. 28.

By Brandon Sumrall/Special to The Advertiser

A pitcher’s duel between the Chilton County Tigers and St. James Trojans came down to a matter of errors in a 1-0 loss for the Tigers on Feb 28.

A Spencer Hamilton single up the middle to start the game gave the Trojans an early base runner.

Consecutive errors by the Tigers led to Spencer scoring on a fly ball to left field.

Though only the first inning, the run proved costly, as it was the only score of the ball game for either team.

Trojans pitcher Davis Daniel dealt two straight strikeouts to the Tigers to start the bottom half of the inning.

A Hunter Bennett infield single gave the Tigers a base runner, but another strike out by the Tigers brought an end to the first inning.

The Tigers retired the Trojans in order in the top half of the second inning, and St. James returned the favor in the home half of the inning.

Hamilton got things started for the Trojans in the top of the third inning, but three straight outs by the Tiger defense brought the inning to a close with no change in the score.

For the second straight inning, the Tigers were retired in order in the bottom of the third.

Two strikeouts by Tolliver Gilliland to the Trojans in the top of the fourth and a fly ball to center field ended of the top of the fourth inning.

Bennett reached on a Trojans infield error in the home half of the fourth inning, but back-to-back strikeouts by the Tigers left the score at 1-0 in favor of the Trojans.

A single to left field by Daniel gave the Trojans a base runner with one out in the top of the sixth inning, but consecutive ground balls were handled by the Tigers infield to escape the inning.

The home half of the sixth came and went in another three-up, three-down inning by the Tigers.

The trend continued into the top of the seventh inning, as the Trojans were set down in order.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the trend continued through the home half of the inning as well, as the Trojans closed out for the 1-0 win.

Bennett had the only hit for the Tigers.

Gilliland pitched a complete game for Chilton County, while recording six strikeouts.

Hamilton led the Trojans with a 2-for-3 performance with two singles, while Daniel pitched a complete game for the Trojans with 10 strikeouts.