Troy Dixie Minors fend off elimination with pair of wins Monday

Troy needed a big hit to get some breathing room, and Quay Rodgers was more than willing to give it to them.

With his team clinging to a 2-0 lead over Wicksburg, Rodgers settled in the box after nearly getting hit by a pitch and then launched a massive two-run bomb to left field to give Troy a 4-0 lead.

Troy would go on to win 5-3.

“Quay hit that ball right on the screws,” said Troy head coach David Nelson. “It almost broke the bat in half. There is pretty good size split in it, so we got all we can get out of that one. We are running light on bats, but that is a good problem to have.”

Troy picked up a pair of runs in the first inning, and then led 4-0 with Rodgers’ homer.

However, Wicksburg wouldn’t go away quietly.

Wicksburg dropped in three bloop hits and took advantage of four Troy miscues to plate three runs in the inning to pull within a single run.

The inning mirrored the rough inning that doomed Troy Sunday evening against Auburn Blue, but Nelson saw one major difference: the confidence of his pitcher.

On Sunday, pitcher Press Jefcoat gave up a couple of weak hits, and didn’t pitch well afterwards.

Monday’s effort was much different.

“I am really happy with the way Press handled the fourth inning there,” Nelson said. “The other night we kicked it around and gave up some dink hits and he lost his composure. The defense kicked it around a little tonight, but a no point did Press ever drop his head or lose his composure. His effort and attitude was spot on.”

Following a stumble Sunday afternoon, Troy faces elimination in every game they play for the rest of the tournament.

Monday was a long day for Troy, as they had to win two games to advance to the next round. Troy pounded Grove Hill 12-2 to open the day.

With the win Troy moved on in tournament play and will meet Piedmont in the next round of the tournament Tuesday evening.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

“We have to keep battling and winning for the rest of the week,” Nelson said. “Hopefully, we get all of these jitters out of the way now and can put together a couple of clean games through Thursday.”