COVINGTON, Ga. — Alcovy used a strong third and fourth innings to pull away from Newton with a 16-6 victory at home on Friday, March 11.
Being tied 2-2 at the end of the second inning, Alcovy left a lot of runners on base early in the game. Then, CJ Salmon, the Tigers’ catcher, came up to the plate in the third inning.
In his at-bat, Salmon homered, giving the Tigers the advantage.
Even though it would be Salmon’s lone hit of the contest, it seemed to be the spark the Tigers’ offense needed, according to head coach Jimmy Hughes.
“Once CJ hit that home run, things seemed to open up a bit,” Hughes said. “It was almost like it was the jolt we needed to get the party started.”
Going along with the party were the offensive fireworks that ensued after Salmon’s homer.
Alcovy went on to score six runs in the third inning followed by a five-run fourth inning.
Salmon may have provided the spark for the Tigers, but Connor Coursey led the charge for most of the night at the plate and on the mound.
In five innings of work, Coursey struck out six batters while surrendering four hits, one earned run and two walks. At the plate, the senior went 4-for-5 recording four RBIs, too.
Hunter Parker and Luke Rosser had two RBIs apiece in the winning effort.
Collectively as a team, Alcovy batted .485 while recording 13 RBIs and only being struck out once.
Meanwhile, it was a rough go on the Rams’ side.
After bringing two runners across home plate to open things up, Newton didn’t score another run until the fourth inning.
By that time in the contest, though, the Rams trailed 8-3. At the end of the fourth, the Rams’ deficit grew 13-3.
Newton scored a few runs down the stretch.
In the fifth inning, the Rams scored a run to cut into the deficit while they scored more in the sixth.
Leading the way for the Rams’ offense was Anthony Bynum. He went 2-for-4 at the plate recording an RBI off a solo home run. Collin Brightwell and Miguel Barbis contributed two RBIs, too, on Friday.
But, according to head coach Derwin McNealy, the game was lost on the defensive end.
“We have to clean it up on defense,” McNealy said. “We had a couple of misplayed balls that could have stopped the big inning.”
Following Friday’s loss, the Rams dropped to 5-6 overall and began region play Monday, March 14, at South Gwinnett.
Even though his team is below .500 now entering their Region 4-AAAAAAA schedule, McNealy has faith in his players this season.
“Going into region play 5-6, we must be consistent and play within the team philosophy,” McNealy said. “It’s a tough region, but I believe in my team. We are good enough to win games.”
For the Tigers, they improved to 3-9 overall and are now on a two-game winning streak. Alcovy started its Region 3-AAAAAA schedule Tuesday, March 15 against Rockdale County.
“They matter a little more at this point,” Hughes said of his team’s region games. “But I’d like to think that our kids are not going to see anything the next five to six weeks that they haven’t seen already. I’d like to think we’re ready for what we’ll see, but you just don’t know until you know.”
