By T. Scott Boatrigjht
While sometimes maybe not spectacular, a win is always a thing of beauty in the eye of the beholder.
And that’s the way the Choudrant baseball team felt after the Aggies held on for a 7-3 win over Hackberry Thursday evening in opening round action of the Division IV Nonselect School baseball playoffs in a contest held on the Ruston High School baseball field.
The 15th-seeded Aggies built a 4-0 advantage through four innings of play, plating three runs in the bottom of the second stanza.
Designated hitter Wade Watson and rightfielder Austin Barmore led off the the second with a pair of singles before Tucker Batterton drew a walk to load the bases. Jackson Pyle ripped a two-RBI down the right field line to put Choudrant up 2-0 before Colton Smith’s grounder to short pushed Batterton across the plate to give that Aggies that 3-0 lead.
The Aggies added another run in the fourth as TJ Smith blasted a fly wall to deep centerfield allowing the big man to chug around the bases for a triple before scoring off an error that allowed Cash Camp to safely reach first.
Choudrant pushed its lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning as Batterton reached first on a throwing error, Jackson Pyle safely bunted and Colton Smith reached first off another Hackberry error to load the base. Starting pitcher Eli Callendar was hit by a pitch to score Batterton.
Camp then chalked up his second hit of the contest with a two-RBI single that gave the Aggies a comfortable lead.
“Anytime you win a playoff game it’s good because there are no slouches in the playoffs,” said Choudrant coach Joel Antley. “And there’s a lot of pressure in a don’t-win-and-go home situation. I could see a little nerves in our younger guys, but our older guys have been there, done that. They know the situation.
“With Eli on the mound — he’s been solid for us all year long — I’ve got complete confidence when he’s out there.”
Callendar got off to a strong start on the mound, fanning seven batters and giving up only two hits in five innings before getting into a bit of a jam for a second straight inning, forcing Antley to make the decision to have Callendar and Colton Smith switch positions.
“I could have gotten him earlier — it was hot and his hand was sweating, ” Antley said about Callendar. “I thought about (making a pitching change) the inning before. Sometimes he gets off a little and comes back the next inning and gets back in the groove again.
“But once he didn’t have control of some of his off-speed stuff I knew it was time to go get Colton. And there’s no reason why not. Colton is a great pitcher, too. I feel confident with him on the mound. Getting that lead early helped because it took the pressure off the guys and let them relax a little bit, too.”
Hackberry ended up pushing across three runs in the bottom of the sixth before Colton Smith and the Aggies retired the side for the Mustangs.
Barmore picked up his second hit of the contest in the bottom of the fifth, but the Aggies failed to add another run before Smith threw a three up, three down situation in the top of the seventh to end the contest.
Colton Smith finished with two strikeouts while giving up two hits in his two innings on the mound.
Barmore led the Aggies with a 3-of-4 batting performance while Camp and Pyle both went 2-4 with two runs batted in.
Watson also had a pair of hits in four at bats.
“We did OK at the plate,” Antley said. “We were a little out front of everything for a little while there. But our younger guys at the bottom of the lineup really came through for us.”
“We can score runs even though our leading hitter on the team isn’t lacing them in the gap. It takes everybody. It always takes everybody. Me along with every other coach says somebody’s got to step up. If somebody doesn’t have it, somebody (else) has to step up. It’s all about filling those holes. That’s what makes a good team.”
Next up for Choudrant will be a second round game against second-seeded Weston on Thursday.
Weston won the lone contest played against Choudrant this season by the score of 9-2 on March 20.
“We’ll have to play well going to play the No. 2 team in the state at their house,” Antley said. “”We’ll have to be on our ‘A’ game for sure.”
