By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
It looked like Escambia County High’s baseball team was going to notch its elusive first win of the season March 30, but it wasn’t to be.
Blount High scored twice in the top of the 6th inning, 6 more times in the seventh, to wipe out an 8-2 ECHS lead and claim a 10-9 win, then Satsuma put the final stamp on a winless (0-13) Blue Devils season by sweeping a pair of April 5 contests.
Leopards rally
The Atmore squad outhit Blount by a 13-9 margin, with 7 of those hits (and 5 RBI) coming from the top two slots in the batting order. Jamarion Robinson collected 4 hits, including a double, and drove in 3 runs. Lebron Hooks had 3 hits, also including a double, and drove in 2 runs.
Anthony McCants and Hasten Dean each had 2 hits, with one of McCants’ hits a double. Jacorian King drove in 2 runs with his only hit, and Owen Gibson doubled to knock home a run.
The fleet-footed Blue Devils also recorded 19 stolen bases, including 4 each by Robinson, Dean and McCants. Lebron Hooks, Deandre Hooks and Gibson each swiped 2 bags.
Robinson started on the mound, striking out 2 batters but giving up a hit and 2 walks before Dean took over and pitched the final 6-1/3 innings. He struck out 7 batters while walking only 2 but hit 6 Blount batters with pitches.
Gators feast
The ECHS team followed up the narrow loss to Blount with a strong effort in the first game of a doubleheader against Satsuma. The Blue Devils trailed by only a 7-5 margin after 3 innings, but the Gators scored 2 runs in each of their final turns at bat to claim an 11-5 win.
Of the team’s 8 hits, Hasten Dean, Jamarion Robinson and Anthony McCants, who also collected 3 of ECHS’s 5 stolen bases, had 2 each. One of the McCants hits was a two-bagger that drove in a run, and Dean knocked in a pair of runs, and Jacori Dortch picked up an RBI.
Dean pitched 6 innings, recording 2 strikeouts, but walked a batter and hit 3 others. McCants took over briefly on the mound, walking a batter and hitting another.
The last chance for the Blue Devils to salvage a win evaporated quickly when Satsuma exploded for 15 runs in the third inning of the nightcap on the way to a 4-inning, 20-0 decision.
ECHS sent only 12 batters to the plate before the game was called and managed just one hit, a single by Ahmari Williams. The only other Blue Devils baserunner was Lamarkis Johnson, who drew a walk.
Two costly fielding errors played a part in the lopsided score, but the team’s pitching staff, which had control problems all season, hurt itself by continuing that trend.
Robinson pitched 2 innings, striking out 3 batters but walking 5 and hitting 2. Williams took over and threw 2/3 of an inning that included 6 walks, 3 wild pitches and a hit batter. Dortch got the final out, walking 2 batters and hitting another before doing so.