It was a manic Monday for local teams in Alabama
Mar. 13—GULF SHORES, Ala. — Monday wasn't a fun day for the Ada and Byng baseball teams a the 2024 Gulf Coast Classic.
The Cougars dropped a pair of games to open the tournament. Lawrence County (Tennessee_ shut down the Cougars 8-1 before New Hope (Mississippi) blanked Ada 4-0.
Robertsdale (Alabama) pushed past the Pirates 7-2 in Byng's tournament opener.
Lawrence 8, Ada 1
The Wildcats scored four runs in the top of the first inning to grab an early lead.
Ada pushed across a run in the bottom of the second. Cade Stick led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a base hit by JD Dugan.
After a double steal, Stick raced home on a sacrifice fly by Reid Sampson to get the Cougars within 4-1.
The Cougars got base runners in four of the final five frames but couldn't scratch for another run.
Lawrence got single runs in the third and fourth innings to extend its lead to 6-0 before tacking on two more runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Ada managed just four total hits, including singles from Stick, Will Johnson and Elvis Edwards.
Reid Samson absorbed the mound loss. He struck out eight and walked five in 6.2 innings.
New Hope 4, Ada 0
The Indians broke a scoreless tie by pushing across all four of their runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Ada pitcher Chalin Robertson retired eight of nine batters during one dominant stretch before New Hope finally scratched for the runs in the sixth frame.
New Hope starter Layton Pohl and reliever Grant Maples combined for a one-hit shutout. Pohl struck out six, walked four and allowed the one hit — a leadoff single by Cade Stick in the top of the fourth inning. Maples, who snagged the mound win in relief, struck out two, walked one and didn't allow a hit to any of the seven batters he faced.
Riley Schutte, Dawson Cambron, Charlie Harbin and Colby Hall all had two hits each for the Indians.
Robertsdale 7, Byng 2
Byng scored two runs in the top of the second inning to grab the early lead.
Ezekiel Griffin was hit with a pitch to start the inning. Kendon Wood used a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second.
Griffin went to third on a groundout, before Easton Welch was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. Kix Stephens then walked to load the bases.
Griffin scored the first Byng run when Cooper McCage reached on an error and Easton Welch later scurried home on a passed ball to put the locals on top 2-0.
The Bears answered with three runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead for good. Robertsdale scored two runs in the fourth inning and single runs in the fifth and sixth frames.
Byng collected five hits in the game from five different players. McCage hit a double for the BHS club while Bo Boatwright, Brycen Smith, Ryan Shelton and Easton Welch all had singles.
Preston Welch was the losing hurler for the Pirates, He struck out one, walked three and allowed three earned runs in 3.1 innings.
Evan Foster and Waylen Bell combined for 10 strikeouts and two walks for the Bears.
Riley Fuller led a 12-hit Robertsdale offense, finishing 4-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.
