LANETT — The Lanett varsity baseball fell into a 12-0 hole in the first inning and eventually lost 23-11 against Central Coosa on Tuesday night.

“That’s something that we’ve been working on, not giving up a big inning,” Lanett head baseball coach Hunter Ames said. “Our starter didn’t perform like we wanted him to, it just wasn’t his day. Sophomore Dylan Pressley finished up and got us out of it, but it’s hard to  come back from 12-0.”

Lanett tried to make up for the defensive lapses, errors and wild throws at the plate. In the bottom of the third inning, Lanett scored two runs on a wild pitch and then scored two more runs after senior Khalil Cunningham hit a single. The Panthers also racked up six runs in the second inning.

“The guys didn’t quit,” Ames said. “They came in and scored runs. We had one inning where we batted around the lineup, but it’s just one of those things where we made a lot of errors out in the field. Simple things, and that kills a pitcher. His defense isn’t making plays that they should be making.”

At the top of the fourth inning, Coosa scored two runs at the top of the frame, followed by another score, one stolen home base, another score from a wild throw from Lanett’s infield, and another runner stealing home plate on a wild pitch. The game was stopped after the Panthers went scoreless in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“We have to quit making the simple mistakes and giving up the big innings,” Ames said. “When we were batting at one point, we were down six runs, but then we turned around, made some more errors and gave it to them. It’s hard to play when it gets like that.”

Tuesday’s loss comes after a 24-1 win over Notasulga last Wednesday for Lanett. The Panthers have scored 51 combined runs in the first four games this season. Senior Kaleb Davidson is the No. 1 hitter in 1A with a batting average of .778, while his brother Kolby is No.  2 in 1A with a batting average of .692. Cunningham is also in the top-50 in the state, batting .300.

“They’re getting cuts daily in practice, and that’s showing,” Ames said when explaining why Lanett is performing so well at the plate. “I just need them to take care of it on the field as well. It was another good night of hitting the ball, a lot of stolen bases. We’re going to steal on you when we get on base. That’s something that we’ve got to work on defensively, not giving up so many stolen bases.”

Lanett will face  Central Coosa again, this time on the road, on Friday night.

“The score starts over 0-0,” Ames said.