Andalusia finished its season on a positive note, winning at home against Enterprise 4-2 in varsity baseball action on Monday which was aided by a single-hit pitching effort by Cody Walsh.
The Bulldogs ended their first season with head coach Kevin Madden with a 17-8 record and the Wildcats fell to 16-10 for the year.
Tysen Cole as well as Drew Shiver walked with one out in the first in the first. Both runners were in scoring position after Owen Newsome walked and loaded the bases. Cole later scored when EHS gained an early advantage of 1-0 before Walsh hit a pop-up, which stopped the menace. The score was not this way long, however, as AHS began to rally in the final ten minutes. Conner Brooks and Walsh walked before Parker Adams was hit by the pitch. Jack Lathrop tied the game at 1-1 when he hit an RBI single, which took home Brooks. Riley Cravey came in to play a courtesy runner in place of Walsh as he scored the decisive run off an unintentional pitch.
Walsh scored two runs and put the side out of order in the second. Garrett Blackston led off the first inning of the home stanza by hitting one hit. After Tycamren was hit by the throw, Conner Brooks had an RBI groundout that scored Blackston to give the team a 3-1 advantage in the second inning. Cole got another free throw in the third inning and snatched the second. After a ball was passed, Cole scored on a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 3-3. Lathrop hit a single and stole second in the third’s bottom but was left stranded on the scoreboard.
The game turned into an edgy pitcher’s battle as neither team scored until the fourth. Cole was hit with his 3rd walk at the middle of the fifth. Walsh ended the game by removing Shiver with the groundout. The Bulldogs also added a crucial run in their half after Walsh hit on an mistake. Cravey returned to play and advanced to second after an error by Adams. Lathrop then followed with a single and Cravey scored on a fumble to take a 4-2 lead. The reliever Dylan Yoo fought back with two strikeouts, and a flyout, to make it into the 6th.
Pitching was the lone bright spot, with no offensive force getting past during the remainder of the game. Lathrop was the leader in Andalusia with a three-for-3 performance and an RBI. Adams had a.229 average, and Blackston and Jackson each had a.3. Walsh pitched two earned runs in one hit, and struck out seven to earn the victory. Easton Walsh earned the save by allowing just an inning in relief, and hit two. Michael Vanderheyden finished 1-for-3 with the only hit of the game for Enterprise. Gavin Mayo was saddled with the loss and gave up three earned runs on just two hits over one and a half innings.
The article Andalusia closes out the season with a one-hit victory against Enterprise was first published at The Andalusia Star-News.
