Morgan Academy holds off Autauga Academy in one-two AISA showdown
Published 7:36 pm Thursday, April 18, 2019
The showdown between the state’s top two baseball teams in AISA lived up to the hype.
Top-ranked Morgan Academy overcame a two-run deficit twice to defeat No. 2 Autauga Academy 14-9 on Thursday.
The Senators improved to 25-0 and won’t play until round two of the AISA playoffs next Thursday at home.
Morgan Academy trailed 8-6 in the fifth inning, but the Senators exploded for seven runs to grab a 13-8 lead. The Senators never trailed again.
Gunnar Henderson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Brayton Brown’s two-run single put the Senators up 9-8. Jeremy Lee added an RBI double, Joseph Estes was hit by pitch brought in another run and Matthew Davis drove in a pair of runs by reaching on an error.
“The way we focus at the plate, nobody focuses like us,” Lee said. “We’ve been down three times this season and we’ve come back to win every time.”
Morgan Academy coach Stephen Clements said the Senators never lose their composure and take things step by step.
“The kids are bulldogs at the plate,” Clements said. “They did a good job battling through adversity against a good team like Autauga Academy that’s well-coached. We take it one strike at a time. They battled their butts off.”
Gunnar Henderson got the win in relief of Davis, pitching the final three innings and striking out four batters. Davis threw four innings and struck out four batters.
The Generals (36-9) took a 4-0 lead in the first inning on Kyrin Long’s two-run single and scored another two runs on errors.
The Senators tied the game at 4-4 in the first on Brown’s two-run homer and solo homers by David Ducote and Jeremy Lee.
The Generals eventually regained the lead twice at 7-4 and 8-6 until Morgan Academy took control.
Lee led the Senators with four hits and three RBI, while Henderson had three. Ducote and Dione Allen each had two hits.