Comeback falls short against #1 Clarksville Academy.
After a monumental comeback on Thursday, the Generals were back in action on Friday afternoon against #1 seed Clarksville Academy at Lighthouse Christian Academy Park.
Sixth grader Penn Murfee got the start on the hill and made quick work of the top team in the conference, getting them 1-2-3 in the first. In the home half, the Generals were unable to get Murfee home from third and the score was 0-0 after one.
Murfee continued to pitch well in his first start as a General, pitching out of a two-men on, two-out jam, by getting the third baseman to pop out to McCall Shipp at third. Shipp made a nice play in foul territory to retire the side.
In the pivotal third inning of the scheduled five-inning game, the Generals committed two errors and walked two batters, all of whom scored at some point. Clarksville compounded that with some softly hit balls that fell just out of reach of the defense. When it was over, the score stood 8-0.
In true Generals fashion, however, the blue and white did not fold. Instead, they mounted a comeback that saw five runs cross the plate. A big two-out double by Patrick Moody scored two, and Jack Bond hit a laser down the right field line for a triple. McCall Shipp continued his torrid hitting, collecting his third hit in two games, and the Generals climbed back to be down only 8-5.
Jack King was fantastic in relief again, and even had the defense turn a double play behind him in the fourth. The Generals loaded the bases with no outs, but bad luck struck again as shots off the bat of Moskal and Wheeler turned into outs, and only produced one run. After four, the score stood 8-6.
Clarksville added an unearned run in the fifth on a pickoff play that caught the baserunner napping. An errant throw, however, went into deadball territory and Clarksville added an insurance run headed to the bottom of the fifth.
The Generals were unable to comeback this time, and the third inning proved to be the killer in the tough 9-6 loss.
