The Dale Pirates’ bid for a Class 2A spring baseball championship fell short as they dropped their semi-final contest to Christian Heritage.
After winning 4-2 against Hartshorne in their opening game of the state tourney, the Pirates saw their season come to an end with a 5-4 setback to Christian Heritage.
Dale Coach Eddie Jeffcoat said this week, “We just didn’t play our best in either game. We played average on Thursday and got by and on Friday it caught up to us.”
“We just didn’t play like we were capable,” Jeffcoat noted.
The coach pointed out though, “We still had a really good year. We were 27-4, went all the way to the state semifinals and we lost only four games all season.
“We ended up within the last four teams of Class 2A and that’s really good,” Jeffcoat added.
The Pirates were tied at 1-1 at the end of one in the game with Christian Heritage, then fell behind 5-2 after four innings.
They clawed their way back and trailed 5-3 heading in to the bottom of the seventh.
They were only able to manage one run in that final at bat. Freshman pitcher Dayton Forsythe suffered the loss.
Jeffcoat said the centerfielder for Christian Heritage made one of the best defensive plays he’s ever seen, noting, “otherwise, I think we had a chance to tie it.”
Against Hartshorne, senior hurler Carson Hunt tossed a one-hitter and got the win, while the Pirates pounded out nine hits. Senior Ike Shirey came in and threw the final inning to preserve the 4-2 victory.
Shirey and seniors Cade Capps and Cole Capps each collected two hits, while seniors Dallen Forsythe and Cade McQuain and junior Connor Kuykendall each had a hit apiece.
Hartshorne pushed across single runs in the first and third innings. Dale had a single run in the second, went ahead for good 3-2 with a pair of runs in the third and a single run in the fourth.