Lions to host baseball tourney starting today
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions baseball team remained undefeated last week, winning two games at the weather-shortened Bonham/Bells tournament.
The Lions (4-1) played 4A Vernon in their home opener Tuesday, March 7, losing 7-4. Details will be reported next week.
Albany hosts its varsity tournament Thursday, March 9 (today) through Saturday, March 11. The Lions are scheduled to play Eastland at 9:00 a.m. and Seymour at 3:00 p.m. today, followed by Brady at 11:00 a.m. Friday and Winters at 11:00 a.m. Saturday.
The event is a five-team round-robin with each team getting four games, weather permitting.
At the Bonham/Bells tournament, the Lions were able to play two games Friday, March 3. Albany defeated Mount Vernon 6-5 and Bokchito (Oklahoma) Rock Creek 9-6.
“The weather was bad on Thursday, but we got two games in on Friday,” Lions coach David Fairchild said. “We had a late game and didn’t get done until around midnight or later.”
Against Mount Vernon, Albany scored four runs in the first inning and never trailed.
Tyler Chapman went 2 for 2 with a double, triple, and three RBIs. Cole Chapman was 2 for 3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Cole Read also drove in a run, while Cason Fairchild, Zane Waggoner, and Coy Lefevre each had a hit.
Cole Chapman pitched two innings, allowing two earned runs on one hit with four walks and five strikeouts. Tyler Chapman worked an inning, giving up three unearned runs on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Caden Price also pitched one inning, giving up an unearned run on two hits.
Against Rock Creek, Albany scored three in the first and six in the second to lead 9-0.
Tyler Chapman had a double and three RBIs. Cason Fairchild was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.
Cole Chapman and Read each had a hit and an RBI, while Keatin Russell had a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. Waggoner had a hit.
Read worked 2.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on a hit with six walks and five strikeouts. Tyler Chapman pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up three unearned runs with two walks and two strikeouts. Price needed just nine pitches to retire the two batters he faced.
“It was a good weekend, but we’ve still got a lot of things to work on,” David Fairchild said. “We need to improve our pitching; we had too many walks. And we need to let our defense work behind us.”
Junior Varsity
The Lion JV team got in three games Friday through Monday, matching the number it played the whole 2022 season.
Albany (3-3) lost to Westbrook 15-1 and Breckenridge 12-6 before beating Cross Plains 14-0.
Albany athletic director Ryder Peacock coached the first two games as the baseball coaches were with the varsity.
“I thought the guys did well. There were just a few times we missed plays that could have eliminated five or six runs in the first game,” Peacock said. “It was the same thing against Breckenridge, just little plays here and there that hurt.”
Against Cross Plains, Albany scored 14 runs on just four hits – a triple by Calhan Fairchild and singles by Tristan Howe, Mason McCloy and Slade Windham.
Will LeMay pitched two innings and Calhan Fairchild one to combine on the shutout.
“They both pitched well,” David Fairchild said.
