Sports Writer

With juniors

Averick Rogers and Marcus Scott, sophomore Wesley Wright and freshman Demareo Green not playing due to their hoops commitments and expected to make major contributions this spring, the Goshen Eagles baseball team suffered mightily without them as they fell 10-2 to Houston Academy and 21-3 to

the 5A Tigers at Wallace College in Dothan Saturday afternoon.

The lack of personnel was evident on pitching and defense as the Eagles gave up a total of 31 runs, including 21 unearned combined in both games.

GHS head baseball coach Chad Dube said it was a difficult situation for the Eagles to deal with throughout the doubleheader.

"What hurt us the most was our depth, pitching and not having a solid experienced battery," Dube said. "Averick will help us

because he has quick feet and a strong arm when he comes back.

I’m looking forward to our rematches with those teams later in the season because it will be better for us with all nine players back. Seasons overlapping at a smaller school is more of a problem than at a larger school because we count on athletes playing multiple sports. We won’t get a handle on our team until everyone comes back."

Despite the lopsided losses, Dube said he saw some positive things from several individual players. Dube said eighth grader Brandon Walters and senior Brandon Nickolson pitched several solid innings in relief for the Eagles.

"The score was no indication of their efforts on the mound in relief during both games," Dube said. "They were two gritty performances because they inherited a bunch of runners and limited them. They kept their composure in the face of adversity. I was especially proud of Brandon Walters because he really came in and sucked it up for us."

Offensively senior Michael Hatten led the way going 4-for-6 with two doubles and one RBI. Nickolson went 2-for-6 with a triple and a RBI while Jason Burgans also finished with two hits and a RBI for the Eagles. Sophomore Warren Mills had a two out RBI in the second game against Eufaula in what Dube termed as "the highlight of the day for us."

As a result of the basketball team’s trip to the Final Four in Birmingham, the Eagles baseball game at Ariton scheduled for today has been postponed indefinitely and will be made up later in the season.

Goshen (0-2) returns to baseball action on Friday afternoon when they open up area play at Georgiana. The first pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.