Don't the baseball experts always say pitching is ahead of the hitters during the early days of the season? That certainly wasn't the case for much of the opening round of the Tennessee Valley Invitational on Friday at Olympic Field.
Lee banged out six home runs and improved to 6-0 with wins over Bluefield and Georgetown colleges. The Flames will be back in action for another doubleheader on Saturday. The Brew Crew will be pitted against Madonna University (Mich) at 2 p.m. and close out the invitational with the University of Rio Grande (Ohio) at 5.
FLAMES 6, TIGERS 1
Senior Roberto Duran was the hitting star and three Lee hurlers allowed the Kentucky team only four hits in the seven inning contest. In fact, a pair of Flames accounted for four of Lee's six runs. In the second inning Karsten Strieby tallied on Duran's first long ball of the season. It was the same old story in the sixth when Strieby came home after Duran's blast cleared the left-field wall.
Lee was only able to garner four hits off three Georgetown pitchers. In the third inning the margin grew to 4-0 when Danny Canela walked. Trevor Burgress came in to pinch run and later tallied on a wild pitch. Corey Davis doubled and scored when Streiby reached on an error. Brady Renner had the other hit for the Flames.
Myles Smith picked up his second win of the year after working 4 1/3 innings. The righthander allowed three hits and one earned run. He walked one and fanned six. Alex Moore toed the rubber for the next 1 2/3 innings. He gave up one hit, struckout two and issued one free pass. Andy Hillis sealed the deal in the seventh. He did not allow a hit, walking one and fanning one Tiger hitter.
Georgetown collected a double from Marvin Flores. Justin Moore, Mike Steinke and Jordan Hinshaw singled.
FLAMES 23, RAMS 2
Lee opened the Tennessee Valley Invitational by banging out 19 hits, including seven extra-base knocks, in breezing past Bluefield College, 23-2.
Danny Canela, Corey Davis, Chris Avey and Jordan Stewart blasted three-run homers to set the pace. Canela, who also stroked a double, was 3-for-3. He scored four times and drove home five. Brandon Rader ripped a triple and single. He collected three RBI and scored once.
Brady Renner doubled, singled and scored three times. Davis added a single and scored a pair. Avey also crossed home plate three times.
Mike Fasolo and Mark Silva continued the hitting assault. Both had two hits. Silva collected three RBI and tallied twice, while Fasolo pushed two Lee runners across and added a pair of runs. Roberto Duran and Karsten Strieby joined the hit-parade with doubles.
Mike Guinane was the starting and winning hurler. He surrendered five hits, one earned run, struck out four and walked three. Kyle Briner worked the next three innings. He allowed three hits but struck out five. David Eskew came on in the seventh and gave up two hits, one earned run and struck out one.
For Bluefield, Anthony Garza was the starting and losing hurler. In two innings, he allowed nine hits and seven earned runs. Jamie Blackwell had three hits and two RBI for the losers. Blackwell, Jacob Wright, and Chris Rosa doubled.
The Flames were back in action later on Friday facing Georgetown College.
