Wallace College - Baseball Press Releases

Govs beat down Wallace-Selma	2008-03-08
It got out of hand early, and it only got worse. In their first game against the Wallace-Selma Patriots Saturday afternoon, the Wallace Govs scored eight runs in the first inning. Then in the second, they added seven more. As a matter of fact, there was only one inning when the Govs didn’t score in the game. In the end, the Govs handed the Patriots a 25-1 defeat.
In the second game of the double-header, it was more of the same. It wasn’t quite as bad, but the Govs scored four runs in the first and went on to a 9-2 victory. And it wasn’t just the hitting this time around. In the first game, the Govs pitching staff walked only one batter in seven innings. A team known for hitting batters didn’t hit a single one. In game two, there wasn’t a single walk, and only one hit batter. “The starters came through, but most of all the relievers came through,” Wallace coach Mackey Sasser said. “These two games were just about complete as games can get.” Saturday’s sweep means the Govs have now won all three of their conference series. Because of the weather delay, the third game won’t be played until Wednesday. The game one victory went to Andrew Hockenbury. And several players had good days at the plate. Among them was Harman Watkins. He was only one-for-two with two walks, but that “one” was an inside the park home run. That came in the first inning, but it was his second at bat. The Govs sent 11 batters to the plate in the first inning. Ten more came to bat in the second. T.J. Rivera was another Gov who had a home run, and his was a grand slam in the second inning. Rivera was three-for-five with a walk and five RBIs. Rafael Carlot also hit a grand slam. Carlot was two-for-two with a home run, double, walk, and six RBIs. Although he didn’t hit a home run, Jonathan Eaves was three-for-four with five RBIs. Selma scored its only run in the second inning when they managed to get two of their six hits. All total, the Govs had 16 hits. Every member of the starting lineup reached base by either a walk, hit, or a fielder’s choice. The Govs got 10 more hits in the second game, and three more home runs. Esterlin Perozo and Giovanni Ortiz each hit two run homers in the first inning. That gave the Govs their four run lead. For Perozo, it was the first of two home runs in the game. He also hit a solo shot in the fourth inning. Perozo was three-for-four in the game with three RBIs. Also going two-for-three was Dothan’s Hunter Pybus. He got the start in the second game and hit two singles and had two RBIs. Torrente went two-for-three with an RBI. The only bright spot for the Patriots came in the second inning. That’s when they scored their two runs on four consecutive singles. Justin Hay picked up the win in game two. George Isabel pitched the final two innings of scoreless ball. “There hasn’t been much concern about our hitting all year long,” Sasser said. “I know we will face better pitching than we saw today, but I am confident that if we make the right adjustments, we will still be able to hit the ball.” Wallace is now 11-6 overall, 6-2 in the Southern Division. The Govs step out of conference play Tuesday afternoon when they play Chipola in Marianna at 5 p.m. The Wallace-Selma game will be played Wednesday at 1 p.m. on the Wallace campus. GAME NOTES The Wallace Govs have scored a total of 49 runs in their last three games. The Govs scored 15 runs against Okaloosa-Walton on Thursday, 25 runs in the first game against Wallace-Selma, and nine more in the second game. Harman Watkins, who didn’t hit a single home run last year, has now hit two. His latest effort was the very rare inside-the-park homer. But even more rare was to see Watkins on the bench. In his two years at Wallace, Watkins had played every single inning. That is, until he was removed in the final two innings of the first game because Wallace had such a huge lead. The wrist bands that the Wallace coaches use to give signals to the players didn’t get much use Saturday. That’s because the Govs jumped out to a big lead in both games and coaching strategy wasn’t necessary. The Govs scored a total of 12 runs in the first inning of both games. Pitching played a big role in this double header. In both games, the Gov pitchers walked only one batter and only hit one batter. On the other hand, Selma pitchers walked 10 and hit two more in the first game alone. Combine that with 16 hits and it’s easy to see how the Govs scored 25 runs. Nathaniel Frazier is Sports Information Director for Wallace College baseball. He can be reached at NFrazier@DothanEagle.com .