Chambers baseball drops game to Evangel 6-3
Published 10:44 pm Monday, April 15, 2019
- THE RACE: Chambers Academy right fielder Raphe Daniel throws the ball after an Evangel base hit on Monday afternoon. Photo by Rashad Milligan
LaFAYETTE — The Chambers Academy baseball team (14-9, 8-2) fell to Evangel 6-3 on Monday afternoon.
“We’re putting the ball in play,” Chambers Academy head baseball coach Dillon NesSmith said. “We’re not making a lot of errors. The downfall is that we’re walking batters. I’m proud of the way we’re fighting, we’re fighting hard. We’re playing good ball right now, that’s just a really good ball team. That’s probably one of the best pitchers that we’re going to see all year.
“I’m proud of the kids. We’re putting the ball in play, we’re not striking out, we’re just leaving a lot of runners on. That’s the biggest problem right now.”
The Rebels gave themselves a fighting chance to come back from a 6-2 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning when Raphe Daniel knocked in an RBI double to cut the deficit to three.
“It’s always encouraging when you’re hitting the ball,” NesSmith said. “Getting runners on is the first step. We have to be able to score when we get them on.”
Chambers Academy had a runner in scoring position on second base in the first inning before ending the frame and having Evangel score three runs in the top of the second inning.
“We’re hitting the ball, we’re just not hitting it in key spots,” NesSmith said. “We’re fighting. We’ve got a good ball team.”
The Rebels are ending the regular season as the No. 2 team in their area, and will host the first round of the playoffs on Friday. The team also has a chance to do something that NesSmith said he cannot recall the last time it occurred.
“We have a chance to sweep Springwood [on Tuesday],” NesSmith said. “That’s the biggest game of the year. That’s what we want to do. We want to sweep Springwood [on Tuesday].”
Chambers Academy defeated Springwood 10-0 this past Saturday.
After a state championship runner-up run last season, the Rebels haven’t received nominations all season long in the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) prep poll.
“A lot of people are sleeping on us right now, but we’re going to wake them up come playoff time,” NesSmith said. “Nobody expected us to do what we did last year. We thought that we would get a little more credit coming into this year, but there’s nothing you can do besides keep winning, and your credit will come.”
Tuesday’s matchup at Springwood will begin at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
