Lions to start 2nd half of district with 3-2 record
Tuesday in 12-4 outcome
The Albany Lions settled for another split in the second week of District 8-2A baseball action, defeating Haskell by run rule and dropping another close game to district leader Stamford.
The Lions (9-2 overall, 3-2 district) hosted Cisco on Tuesday, April 2, winning 12-4 in their only game this week. Details will be reported next week.
The district is taking this weekend off to avoid conflict with the District 10-2A track meet. Albany will start the second half of district play Tuesday, April 9 at home against Hawley.
On Tuesday, March 26, the Lions raced past Haskell16-4in five innings, then dropped a 4-2 decision on Thursday, March 29 at home against Stamford. Albany shares third place in the district standings with Anson behind Stamford and Hawley, but owns a head-to-head win over the Tigers.
At Haskell,the Lions jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning, providing ample support for Cason Fairchild, who went the distance on the mound.
“This was a good win for us,” coach David Fairchild said. “We still have work to do to get better, but we will take the W and move on.”
Calhan Fairchild, who was 2 for 3 with a double, and Brody Oliver, who was 1 for 4, each drove in three runs for the Lions. Mason McCloy was 1 for 2 with two RBIs, while Cason Fairchild was 2 for 5 with a double, and Cole Read was 2 for 2. Adam Hill also doubled as the Lions totaled 10 hits.
On the mound, Cason Fairchild held Haskell to one ear ned runs on five hits. He struck out seven.
After starting district with a pair of nailbiters, Albany took control right away, sending 10 men to the plate in the six-run first. Cason Fairchild led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch, then Tyler Chapman scored on a double steal after drawing a walk. Calhan Fairchild singled in a run, Oliver drove in two and Chip Chambers scored on a passed ball before Albany made an out.
Haskell got a run back in the bottom of the inning, but the Lions pulled away after that.
In the third, Albany scored three runs after starting with two outs. Cason Fairchild singled in a run, and two more scoredwhenChapmanreached on Haskell’s second error of the inning to go up 9-1.
Haskell then took advantage of two Albany errors to get within 9-4, but the Lions scored two in the fourth on Calhan Fairchild’s double and a passed ball.
Albany invoked the 10-run rule by batting around in the fifth. Calhan Fairchild walked with the bases loaded and two runs scored on an error and a ground out. McCloy dealt the final blow with two-runsingle.
Against Stamford, mistakes proved costly with the Bulldogs scoring three runs off Albany miscues.
“We outhit Stamford, but once again in district it came down to errors,” David Fairchild said. “We’ve lost two district games where we’ve had some mishaps toward the end. We'll work tosh ortho setup and get ready for the second round.”
The loss spoiled another solid pitching performance by Chapman, who struck out 10 over six innings. He was charged with four runs, two earned, on three hits.
Cason Fairchild was 2 for 4 with a double and a triple, scoring bothAlbany runs on singles by Zane Waggoner and Read. Oliver and Calhan Fairchild each had a hit.
Stamford took a 2-0 lead in the first when an error helped extend the inning. With two outs, Alek Hernandez singled in two runs after Chapman should have been of the inning.
The Lions got one back when Cason Fairchild led off with a double and scored on Waggoner’s twoout single, but the tying run was stranded in scoring position.
Albany also missed chances in the second and third after getting two men on.
The Lions pulled even in the fifth on Read’s single after Cason Fairchild led off with a triple.
Stamford regained the lead in the sixth with the go-ahead run scoring on a dropped third strike. Albany went in order in the sixth and seventh.
ALBANY 16, HASKELL 4 (5) SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E ALBANY 6 0 3 2 5 X X 16/10/2 HASKELL 1 0 3 0 0 X X 4/5/4 atbat runs hits RBI
CsFairchild p 5 2 2 1 Chapman 2b 3 2 1 0 Waggoner 3b 3 2 0 0 Read ss 2 3 2 0 ClFairchild 1b 3 3 2 3 Chambers cf 5 2 0 1 Oliver c 4 0 1 3 Beal cr 0 0 0 0 Hill dh 4 1 1 0 Peterson lf 0 0 0 0 McCloy rf 2 1 1 2 Totals 28 16 10 10 2B – Hill, CsFairchild, ClFairchild. SB
–Chapman2,Hill,CsFairchild,Read,McCloy, Waggoner.
IP H R ER BB SO
CsFairchild5 5 4 1 5 7 HBP – CsFairchild.
STAMFORD 4, ALBANY 2 SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E STAMFORD 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 4/4/0 ALBANY 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2/6/3 atbat runs hits RBI
CsFairchild ss 4 2 2 0 Chapman 2b 4 0 0 0 Read p 3 0 1 1 Waggoner 3b 2 0 1 1 ClFairchild 1b 3 0 1 0 Chambers cf 3 0 1 0 Oliver c 3 0 1 0 Peterson cr 0 0 0 0 Hill lf 2 0 0 0 McCloy rf 3 0 0 0 Totals 27 2 6 2 2B – CsFairchild. 3B – CsFairchild.
SB – WAggoner.
IP H R ER BB SO
Chapman L 6 3 4 2 2 10 Read 1 10002 WP – Chapman 2. PB – Oliver. HBP – Chapman 3.
