By By Austin Bishop/Special to The Star
April 13, 2001
The Raiders of Lamar School face their biggest challenge of the season next week, but head baseball coach Ronnie Key said if the Raiders are going to stay alive in the District 3-AAA race, they will have to play better than did in splitting a doubleheader with visiting Heritage Academy on Thursday night.
Despite the overall hitting woes, the Raiders still had a good chance for a sweep.
Lamar used a double by Monroe Mayfield in the fourth and an RBI single by Jeff Knight to take a 1-0 lead in the nightcap.
But the Patriots used a pair of Lamar errors and a run-scoring double by Hunter Ferguson to score two unearned runs in the sixth inning.
Lamar had a shot at a rally in the sixth inning, but Heritage threw out a runner trying to go from first to third following a single for the last out of the inning.
Nick Lisi opened the Lamar seventh with a single to right. After Drew Moffett bunted him to second, Lisi moved to third on a wild pitch.
The Raiders tried to bunt, but the batter was thrown out at first and Lisi was gunned down at the plate for the third out of the inning to give the Patriots the double play and the win.
Mayfield had two singles and a double for the Raiders in the one-run loss, while Knight had two singles.
Jamie Fontan (4-2) picked up the loss despite not giving up an earned run.
Jared McKee (4-2) was the winning pitcher in the first game, allowing just two hits as the Raiders won by the run rule in five innings.
Bobby Stone had two singles and three RBIs in the first game for Lamar, while Mayfield ripped a run-scoring double.
The Raiders travel to West Point to take on Oak Hill in a single game at 3 p.m., Monday before visiting Raymond Tuesday to play Central Hinds in a key district game.