Trojans beat Baldwin County in Hank Aaron Classic

With 2-2 season record, Daphne to host Auburn in 6 p.m.
Thursday contest
Monday, February 23, 2009
By ARTHUR MACK
Sports Correspondent

MOBILE - Conner Reese pitched a complete game and Daphne came up with a
timely RBI from No. 9 hitter Jared Olson to steal a 2-1 win over arch rival
Baldwin County in the Hank Aaron Classic at Hank Aaron Stadium on Saturday
night.

Reese gave up only one run on six hits, while striking out six and walking
two, while Brandon Peterson had an RBI single as the Trojans improved to 2-2 and
host Auburn at 6 p.m. Thursday.

While the game didn't have a lot of runs, there was more than enough defense
to go around, as both teams made some outstanding plays.

"Both teams played some really good defense," said Daphne coach Joe Hutchins.
"Their guys made some great plays on the ball, and our guys made some great
catches. I was really impressed."

Daniel Robinson took the loss for BCHS (1-3), going the distance while giving
up two[img_assist|nid=311|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=150|height=113] runs on five hits while striking out three.

"It was a great ball game," said Tigers coach Peter Bezeredi. "We face each
other in a region game soon, and if any of the region games are like this one,
it's going to be an exciting season. They (Daphne) made some outstanding plays,
and that was the difference."

Baldwin County tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth when Demetrius
Coley scored on Jansen Boeschen's double. But Daphne came back in the top of the
seventh and regained the lead when courtesy runner Brent Cunningham scored from
third on Olson's single. Cunningham, who came on to run for Reese - who led off
with a single - went to second on a sacrifice bunt and went to third on Eric
Britain's grounder.

Reese then retired the side in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.

"In certain spots, good things happen," said Hutchins. "He (Olson) shot a
ball by the pitcher, and the first baseman had to run up and make the play. I
always tell my guys you don't need to do too much, just a little something."

"We had a couple of situations where we had two men on base, but we bunted
back to the pitcher," said Bezeredi. "It was little things like that that made
all the difference."

Russ Mosley got things going for Daphne in the top of the second when he hit
a single, advanced on Reese's sacrifice bunt and scored on Peterson's single to
make it 1-0. The Trojans had a chance to pad the lead in the top of the third
when Hutchins walked and went to third on a throwing error with two outs, but
Robinson struck out Jordan Thornhill to kill the threat.

A great defensive effort marked the fourth inning for Daphne. In that inning,
BCHS's Justin Miller hit a shallow popup to right field. Right-fielder Blake
Vinson ran toward the ball, stumbled and slid on his belly, but kept his eyes on
the ball and still managed to come up with a great catch.

"Every now and then, you get lucky," said Hutchins of Vinson's Web gem. "But
he made the right angle and he was in the right spot."

With Auburn looming next, Hutchins knows his team will be in for a battle.

"They spanked us pretty good last year," he said. "They should be pretty good
this year, and it should be a good game."