It was a history-making week for the CCA Patriots. For the first time ever, the Patriots played under the lights in their home stadium. It didn’t hurt that they came away with wins over Trinity Christian (7-0) and Frederica Academy (2-1) in front of a big home crowd (with a few interested scouts in the stands, especially for the Frederica game, that boosted attendance).
In Tuesday’s season opener, the Patriots were up 5-0 after two and added a run in the fourth and fifth to cruise to a two-hit shutout over Trinity. Blake Bryant, Landon Williams, and Thomas Gentry each doubled. Gentry and Skyler Woods drove in two.
Gentry no-hit Trinity in the four innings he threw. He struck out 10 and didn’t walk anyone. Clay Phillips pitched the final three innings, striking out five and walking two.
Tuesday’s game against an always tough Frederica team was a different story. Bryant, one of the top pitchers in the state, got his first start of the season and didn’t disappoint. He went five innings and allowed just one hit. He struck out nine. He left the game after 60 pitches with the score tied at zero. Sam Ables threw the final three innings and picked up the win.
CCA took a 1-0 lead in the sixth when Woods singled with two outs to score Gray McLean. Frederica tied the game on a Patriot error in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Phillips, who led off with a walk, went to third when Ables singled. That’s as far as he would get and the game went into extra innings.
Frederica made a little noise in the eighth with a one-out walk followed by a single. But the Patriot defense shut down the budding rally with an inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the eighth, Gentry reached on an error. After a strikeout, Woods walked to put the winning run in scoring position. Cayden Hall went into run for Woods. Jackson Knight reached on an infield hit to load the bases with one out. A strikeout for the second out of the inning gave Frederica a little hope of getting out of the eighth without any damage. Then, on a 3-0 count, Mason Spivey was hit by a pitch, which allowed Gentry to trot home for the game-winning run.
McLean, Woods, Knight, and Ables had the only hits for the Patriots.
CCA is 2-0 on the season and travels to Frederica for a 6 p.m. rematch Friday. The Patriots play Pinewood next Thursday at home at 6 p.m.
