Back on Base
The Albany Lions put themselves back in the title hunt in the District 8-2A baseball race with a pair of home victories against Cisco and Hawley.
The Lions (10-2 overall, 4-2 district) enter their Friday,April 12gameagainstAnsontiedwith HawleyagamebackofStamford for the district lead.
“This district is a tough one,” coach David Fairchild said. “CiscobeatStamfordonMonday, and Stamford was undefeated.”
On Tuesday, April 2, Albany pulled away to beat Cisco 12-4 as Cole Read struck out 13. On Monday, April 8 in a game moved up a day to avoid rain, the Lions avenged one of their two losses by beating Hawley 6-3, scoring the last six runs. The Cisco game closed out the first half of the district schedule with the Hawley game starting the second half.
After hosting Anson this Friday, Albany’s senior night game will be Tuesday, April 16 against Haskell.
Against Cisco, the Lions took a 4-0 lead in the second, then held on as the Loboes closed to 4-3 in the third. Albany answered with three runs in the bottom of the third when a leadoffdoublebyZaneWaggoner andtwowalksloaded the bases. A hit batter and two more walks forced the runs in.
TheLionsdrew15walks off five Cisco pitchers.
Tyler Chapman went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, while Waggoner was 2 for 4 with two doubles. Chip Chambers drove in two runs.
“Tyler had another good day at the plate,” Fairchild said. “He’s been hitting the ball really well. Zane Waggoner had two big doubles.”
Read worked 6.1 innings, giving up one earned runonsevenhits.Chapman struck out the two batters he faced to close it out.
“Cole had a lot of control on the mound,” Fairchild said. “It was good to see himgoalmostthedistance.”
Against Hawley, the Lions rallied from a 3-0 deficit with five runs in the fifth. Calhan Fairchild’s two-run single in the fifth tied it, and Chambers and Brody Oliver followed with run-scoring hits.
“That was a big win,” David Fairchild said. “We couldn’t find a way to hold on the first time around, and I thought our kids did a good job this time. We had some key hits. Calhan put onedowntheright-fieldline withbasesloadedthatkind of broke things open for us.”
Cason Fairchild worked 2.1 innings before Read finished up for the win.
“I asked Cason to give me two innings, and he went beyond that,” David Fairchild said.” Then Cole came in and had another great outing. We had some good defensive play, too, especiallywithChipChambers and Mason McCloy in the outfield.”
The coach said the key was staying in the game after Hawley took the lead in the third.
“The guys never let their heads down,” he said. “It was nice to see that. They just kept battling and had the big inning.”
Chapman went 3 for 4 and Waggoner was 2 for 4, each with a double.
