By By Austin Bishop/Special to The Star
March 6, 2001
Stephen Head must be part Polar Bear.
The left-hander fit right in with the cold weather on Monday night, striking out 11 and allowing just two hits over six innings to lead visiting Hillcrest Christian School to a 9-1 win over Lamar School in high school baseball action.
Hillcrest scored three runs in each of the first two innings to jump out to a 6-1 lead and then picked up three runs in the sixth to win the season-opener for both teams.
The visitors from Jackson, ranked No. 3 among academy teams in the state, used two walks, a bunt single, a ground-ball single through the infield, an error and a sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.
The Raiders, now 0-1 on the year, answered in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer deep into the trees behind the left center field wall by Monroe Mayfield.
Hillcrest used two more walks, a double by Jordan Ferguson and run-scoring singles by Brad Grice and Head in the second to make it 6-1.
At that point the visiting Cougars looked like they were threatening to take a run-rule victory.
But starting pitcher Justin Brewer (0-1) settled down and the defense began to play well behind him.
Ryan Satcher led off the bottom of the Lamar second with a single to right, moved to second on a wild pitch and third on a ground out, but was stranded there.
The Raiders had only two more base runners the rest of the game, one coming on a walk by Brewer and the other when Nick Lisi was hit by a pitch.
The Cougars got runners on base in each inning and had runners in scoring position in every inning except one.
Hillcrest, 1-0, struck for their final three runs in the sixth, when Ferguson walked, Logan Power singled him to third and Grice hit a three-run homer to left.
The Cougars had nine hits in the game, including two each by Grice and Head.
Lamar returns to action at home today at 4 p.m. against Jackson Academy, before traveling to Decatur on Thursday to face Newton County Academy.