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Area baseball teams are now in full swing with Pike Liberal Arts, Zion Chapel, Charles Henderson and Goshen all in action this week.

The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots (0-1) got the 2023 season off to a start with a tough 9-7 loss to the Holtville Bulldogs (1-0) on Monday, Feb 20, on the road. Pike’s debut in the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) was against the number one team in Class 5A. The Bulldogs earned a Final Four appearance in 2022 and have made it to the Elite 8 in three of the last five seasons in 5A.

Pike jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Kade Brookins drove Payne Jefcoat home with a line drive double into centerfield. Holtville cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning but the Patriots got back to work in the third. Jefcoat drove Jackson Booth home on a pop fly followed by KC Bradford scoring on a wild pitch to put the Patriots up 4-1.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, Holtville exploded to score eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 9-4 lead. In the sixth, though, Pike rallied to cut the lead to 9-7 when Levi DeBoer scored on a wild pitch followed by Booth scoring on a passed ball. Finally, Bradford scored his second run of the evening off an RBI single from John Lott.

The Patriots were unable to score in the seventh, as Holtville held on for the early season win. Junior left hander Will Rice got the start from the mound and pitched three innings and struck out five batters, while giving up just one hit and no earned runs over his three innings of duty. Brookins pitched one and 1/3 innings and struck out a pair of batters, while giving up one hit and four earned runs. Bradford pitched one inning and struck out three batters along with giving up just one hit and no earned runs.

The Charles Henderson Trojans (3-0) earned a two-game sweep over Park Crossing and Zion Chapel on Monday. Against Park Crossing, the Trojans fell behind 2-0 in the first inning and trailed 3-0 going into the seventh and final inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Will Templin hit an RBI double into centerfield that drove both Cole Pugh and Josh Hooten home to cut Park Crossing’s lead to 3-2. On the very next at-bat, Parker Adams hit a walk-off single into right field that drove both Chase Vaznaian home, to tie the score, and Templin home for the winning run.

Pugh finished the day 2-of-3 at the plate with a run, while both Will Templin and Adams earned two RBIs each. KaNeil Lewis pitched three and 2/3 innings and struck out six batters, while giving up two hits and no earned runs. Jordan McBryde pitched three and 1/3 innings with two strikeouts, while giving up one hit and no earned runs. Damien Hart had nine putouts and an assist on defense.

Charles Henderson followed that up with a 10-2 win over Class 2A’s Zion Chapel Rebels later in the night. Will Templin went 2-for-2 at the plate against ZCHS with three RBIs and a double, while Lewis, Connor Jones, Wes Templin and Pugh each scored two runs. Vaznaian and Kevin Yeoman scored one run each, as well.

Wes Templin pitched three innings and struck out six batters, while giving up two hits and no runs. Pugh pitched two innings, striking out a batter and giving up three hits and no runs. Wilson Jones struck out a batter and gave up one hit with no run in one inning on the mound. Hart had nine putouts and Adams had four putouts on defense.

Wes Braisted went 3-for-4 at the plate for ZCHS with one run and a double. Mason Stuart scored Zion Chapel’s other run. Braisted pitched two and 2/3 innings and struck out three batters, while giving up three hits and six earned runs. Austin Jordan pitched one and 2/3 innings and struck out a batter along with giving up three hits and two earned runs. Bradly Flowers gave up one hit and one earned run in one and 1/3 innings pitched. Stuart had four putouts and an assist, while Morgan Sanders had four putouts.

The Goshen Eagles (1-1) split a doubleheader with W.S. Neal and Geneva on Feb. 18. In the first game, Goshen fell 6-4 to Geneva. After getting down 1-0 in the top of the first inning, Goshen responded in the bottom of the inning with three runs to go up 3-1. Geneva retook the lead 4-3 in the second inning but in the third, Peyton Stamey scored the tying run. Geneva scored two more runs in the fourth inning and Goshen was unable to answer back.

Andrew Galloway, Brody Wilks, Cade Edwards and Stamey each scored a run for Goshen, while Galloway stole two bases. Stamey pitched three and 1/3 innings and struck out a pair of batters, while giving up two hits and four earned runs. Wilks pitched one and 1/3 innings and struck out a pair of batters, while giving up one hit and no runs. Tyler McLendon had 10 putouts and Edwards had eight putouts and an assist.

Goshen rebounded to best WS Neal 13-6 later in the day. The Eagles exploded to score five runs in the second inning and scored four runs each in the fourth and fifth innings. WS Neal scored its only runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but it wasn’t enough.

McLendon went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs, a double and two runs, while Gavin Davis went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs. Edwards belted a three-run home run and scored two runs himself, and Hunter Nobles also earned two RBIs.

Galloway got the win on the mound as he mowed down five batters and gave up two hits and two earned runs in four innings pitched. McLendon tallied six putouts on defense.