Albany to face district leader in season finale
The Albany Lions are in the running for the top spot in district after a 6-3 victory over Haskell April 16 and a decisive 11-0 win at Cisco on Tuesday.
The Lions (13-2 overall, 7-2 District 8-2A) are currently in sole possession of second place in the district standings, a game back of Stamford. The two leaders will face off for the last regular game, and a win would put Albany in a tie for the title spot.
The Lions close out district play at 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 26 at Stamford. The bi-district round of the playoffs will be played the weekend of May 2-4.
Against Haskell, Albany came from behind for the fifth time in six district wins after spotting the Indians anearly 1-0 lead.The game was the only outing of the week because of the regional track meet.
“This was a good, solid win,” Lions coach David Fairchild said. “We need our bats to come alive throughout the lineup as we go into these last two games.”
Chip Chambers struck out 12 in pitching a complete game and drove in two runs at the plate. The junior southpaw was charged with two earned runs on three hits. He walked four.
“I thought Chip had a great outing,” Fairchild said. “For the most part, he was in control and had his breaking ball working.”
Of the 10 outs that did not come on strikeouts, seven were recorded by outfielders.
“I was super proud of our outfield play,” Fairchild said. “(Left fielder) Woods Peterson had several nice plays, as well as Mason McCloy (right) and Calhan Fairchild (center).”
Haskell struck for an unearned run in the first, taking advantage of a third-strike wild pitch and an error. Chambers allowed just three base runners over the next five innings as Albany pulled out to a 6-1 lead.
In the third, Zane Waggoner doubled in two runs to put the Lions ahead to stay and scored on Brody Oliver’s two-out single.
Albany added three more runs in the fifth as Tyler Chapmanled off with a triple. Cole Read, who was 2 for 3, followed with an RBI single.After a walk to Waggoner, Chambers delivered a two-run double with two outs.
ALBANY 6, HASKELL 3
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E HASKELL 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 3/3/1 ALBANY 0 0 3 0 3 0 X 6/6/1 atbat runs hits RBI
CsFairchild ss 3 1 0 0 Chapman 3b 4 1 1 0 Read 2b 3 2 2 1 Waggoner 1b 1 2 1 2 ClFairchild cf 3 0 0 0 Oliver c 4 0 1 1 Beal cr 0 0 0 0 Chambers p 3 0 1 2 Peterson lf 1 0 0 0 McCloy rf 3 0 0 0 Totals 25 6 6 6 2B – Chambers, Waggoner. 3B – Chapman. HBP – Waggoner. SB – CsFairchild, Read, Waggoner.
IP H R ER BB SO
Chmbrs W 7 3 3 2 4 12 WP – Chambers 3.
