Sparked by the hitting of Derrick Pitts and Corey Davis, Lee exploded for nine runs over the fifth and sixth innings and coasted to a 15-1 win over Talladega College on a near-perfect baseball afternoon at Olympic Field.
While Pitt and Davis were directing the hitting punch, Myles Smith (8-2) fanned nine Tornadoes hitters over six innings to pick up the pitching win. CJ Lusted, Jeremy Bales and Ryan Zimmer hurled one inning apiece of shutout ball. All totaled the four pitched recorded14 strikeouts and walked two. They did not allow an earned run.
Talladega pitcher Ryne Drummonds hurt his own case by walking three straight hitters with two outs in the fifth inning. Davis made the right-hander pay when he drilled a triple deep to left-center field and pushed three runs across the plate.
In the sixth Lee sent 11 batters to the dish and banged out seven hits and scored six runs in claiming a 12-1 lead. Pitts, Josh Silver and Brandon doubled in the frame. Cameron Brewster collected two singles and scored in the explosion while Brady Renner and Mark Silva had hits.
Pitts ripped a three-run homer in the seventh. He finished the day with a home run, triple and double, scored four times and knocked in five. “Derrick just had a huge evening,” said coach Mark Brew.
Davis, who broke the contest wide open with his triple in the fifth, had a single, double and a three-base hit. Rader added a double and single. Mark Silva had a pair of one-base knocks. He posted two RBI and tallied once. He drew praise from Brew for his base running in the fourth inning that led to one of Lee’s two runs in the frame.
Renner picked up two RBI and scored twice. Karsten Strieby joined the action with two runs batted in and two runs scored.
“We did a lot of good things at the plate and in the field today,” said Brew as his No.1-ranked Flames improved to 31-8 on the year. “We got an opportunity to use a lot of players and it was good to get Lusted, Bales and Zimmer some work.”
The Flames will return to the diamond on Saturday and host the Tornadoes in two seven inning games, beginning at 12 noon. It will be Military Appreciation Day as Lee baseball shows it appreciation for the veterans and also the men and women currently on active duty.
