By T. Scott Boatright
Baseball is a game of momentum-building moments, as Choudrant High School proved Tuesday night on Tony Antley Field.
The Aggies broke open a tie game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning before pitcher Braden Bagwell held off Simsboro in the top of the seventh inning to earn a 5-2 complete game over the Tigers.
Choudrant’s big moment came when left fielder Rhett James led off the bottom half of the fourth with an extra base hit he stretched into a triple with a headfirst slide into third base.
But the Tigers and pitcher Noah Thomas followed by trying to build a little momentum of their own as Thomas struck out the next two Aggie batters and gave Simsboro a chance to escape the jam with the game still tied.
But Choudrant then loaded the bases as Braden Bagwell walked before Cam Bagwell reached first on what would have been a strikeout, but the catcher dropped the ball and Cam Bagwell beat the throw to first.
Then another big moment happened for the Aggies as Gavin Hall slapped a ball into short right field. The Simsboro right fielder tried to make a spectacular diving catch for the ball but didn’t come up with it as James and both Bagwells all crossed home plate to put Choudrant on top by three runs at 5-2.
“You hit a popup down the right field line that just lands in a perfect spot,” said Tigers coach Scott Hiers. “Gavin generally, from what I’ve seen and I know of him, is just a straight up pull hitter. And for him to hit one there, where we’re playing in the gap a little bit,
“The ball was just out of reach. We’re in a tie game without that. It’s just one of those things. It’s just baseball.”
Simsboro had one final chance in the top of the seventh inning, and when Levin Adkins reached first on a walk, it seemed like the Tigers might get the chance to find a momentum-building moment of their own.
But the next SHS hit a fielder’s choice ball with Choudrant shortstop Cam Bagwell fired the ball to second base to put Adkins out before doing the same thing again as fourth Tiger came to bat to put a notch in Choudrant’s win column
Simsboro fell to 15-6 with the loss.
“We still feel good about the season and should pick up a couple of wins on Thursday and Friday that should help with our (power) point totals,” Hiers said. “You just can’t just win every ballgame. I guess LSU-Shreveport proved that wrong last year, but that’s not normal. That’s the exception.
“All you can do is give yourself a chance to win. And we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight but it just didn’t happen. Noah pitched well. I thought we really hit the ball pretty well. They just made some amazing defensive plays. It may be odd for the opposing coach to say he’s proud of the other team, but I kept saying, ‘Wow, that was a great play!’
“My kids are disappointed, but they’ll get over it — in about 30 minutes.”
Thomas struck out six Aggies while giving up eight hits on the night.
Simsboro’s two runs came in the top of the first and third innings while the Aggies plated one run in each bottom half of those innings.
Choudrant had to play the game without head coach Joel Antley, who was suspended for one game after appearing to record a big win at Quitman Friday night.
But what looked like a win became a loss after it was determined that the Choudrant pitcher had violated the pitching-count rule by four pitches within a specific time period, with the Aggies ending up with a loss and Antley receiving a one-game suspension.
“They put a whooping on us a couple of weeks ago and beat us 10-0 over at their place,” said Aggies assistant coach Steve Wooley. “So, this was about us getting back to the way we play baseball. Our kids were ready to play. Braden Bagwell, man, what a performance on the mound (giving up only five hits). I don’t know what his stats are, but he had a heckuva game to hold them to two runs.
“And Gavin Hall at third base was phenomenal. I don’t know how many plays he ate up playing over there, but he played lights out over there. He was fantastic.
“Rhett James hitting in the seven hole ends up hitting a single, a double and a triple. That was a phenomenal performance by him. We made a few baserunning mistakes but the kids ran aggressively and got us into position to score. And Gavin’s popup to right field ended up scoring three runs, and that was the difference in the ballgame.”
Choudrant, now 9-11, is next scheduled to play at Downsville on Tuesday while Simsboro will play host to Castor on Thursday.
