Morgan Academy wins home opener in baseball
Published 9:44 pm Tuesday, February 26, 2019
A brief evening rainfall didn’t affect Morgan Academy’s home opener in baseball.
Gunnar Henderson, Brayton Brown and Xavier Green all homered as the Senators trounced Bessemer Academy 9-1 on Tuesday night.
The Senators improved their record to 3-0 and will host Clark Prep on Friday night at 6 p.m.
“We’re playing really well for it being early in the season,” Senators coach Stephen Clement said. “We need to find a way to finish games. That’s what we need to work on.”
Morgan Academy used small ball to take a 2-0 second inning lead.
Jeremy Lee and Joseph Estes each hit consecutive infield singles. Matthew Davis’ sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third. Green’s sac-fly and Dione Allen’s RBI single put the Senators up 2-0.
The Senators relied on the long ball in the third, increasing their lead to 5-0. Brown smacked a three-run homer, a 342-foot blast over left centerfield.
Green’s solo homer, a 300 foot shot over the rightfield wall, extended the Senators’ lead to 6-0.
In the fourth, Henderson’s homer went over the 348-foot centerfield wall. His three-run blast put Morgan Academy up 9-0.
The Rebels avoided a shutout in the seventh inning. Bessemer Academy scored after a batter was hit by pitch with the bases loaded.
Henderson, an Auburn University baseball signee, has found his stroke right off the bat.
Last week, Henderson completed his basketball career at Morgan Academy at the AISA All-Star basketball game, earning West MVP honors.
“I love playing basketball, but it’s fun to be back with my teammates in baseball,” Henderson said. “I was looking for a good pitch to hit and the ball ended up going out.”
Lee was the winning pitcher, striking out five and allowing two hits in three innings. Davis relieved Lee and pitched the final four innings in relief.
Morgan Academy 10, Clark Prep 0: Brayton Brown struck out four batters and homered as the Senators prevailed on Monday night.
Joseph Estes led the Senators with three hits and two RBI. Gunnar Henderson drove in three runs.