Straughn takes two from Greenville

Published 3:46 pm Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The wins might not be stacking up just yet, but Greenville head coach Evan Kelley believes the Tigers have reason to be optimistic.

“We are getting better,” the first-year head coach said.

On Monday, the Tigers battled Straughn High School before falling 6-2 in the first game of a doubleheader and 14-3 in the finale. In a season-opening doubleheader, Straughn defeated Greenville 10-2 and 11-2.

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In the first game of the two-game tilt, Greenville (1-6) mounted a late comeback. Trailing 5-0 in the sixth inning, the Tigers plated a pair of runs when Jason Schofield singled and drove in Cody Mauch and Harper Vinson.

After Schofield advanced to second on the throw home, Jerome Cook reached base on a walk to give the Tigers runners on first and second and just one out in the inning. But the rally stalled when Ozell Carter went down on strikes and Michael Smith popped up to the shortstop.

Greenville threatened to push one more run across in the bottom of the seventh when Davonte Posey singled up the middle, took second on a passed ball and moved to third on a groundout. The groundout and two strikeouts ended the rally.

“We need to be more disciplined at the plate and on the bases,” Kelley said.

Kelley also said the Tigers need to get more consistent play from their pitchers and cut down on the mistakes in the field.

“We need to get our pitching to come around,” he said.

“It’s getting better, but it’s not quite where we need it to be. We are also making too many mental mistakes. We’re not focused on the game and we’re making errors at crucial times in the games.”

Greenville dropped an 8-3 decision to Andalusia High School on Friday and a 7-5 decision to Gulf Shores High School on Saturday.

No statistics were available.