JV LOSE TO TROJANS - DIAMOND DEVIL SPEAKS

Cool nights and the distinct sound of a “ping” as bat meets ball.  Yes, it’s that time of year again; baseball season.

The JV team got off to a slow start losing to Brewer at home.  However, their season took a turn in the right direction with consecutive wins against East Lawrence, Falkville, and Addison. 

Last night, they met Athens Bible School at home. ABS took an early lead as Elkmont struggled to make routine plays and to get the bats going.  With ABS leading 8 to 5 in the middle of the fifth, Elkmont came to bat.  After scoring 1 with no outs, it looked as if the Red Devils were on track to either win or at least force an extra inning.  However, with a runner on base, the ABS pitcher struck the next three batters out giving Elkmont their second loss of the season.  The final score was 8 to 6.

Elkmont will face Westminister at home Thursday, weather permitting.  

ELKMONT BASEBALL BEGINS - DUST DEVIL AT THE DIAMOND

The Elkmont varsity baseball season has started and they have already played four games. The Red Devils'  record stands at 2-2.  Elkmont lost to Brewer 14 - 3, but played without six starters who were still playing basketball.  Elkmont also lost to East Lawrence, 10 - 5, when those six players joined the team and played their first game without any practice.  They were able to get in a couple of days of practice with the full varsity team before their next game.  Since then, the Red Devils have won their next two games; beating Falkville, 17 - 4 and Addison, 12 - 5.  Against Falkville, Cole Glass had three hits and Jared Bailey hit a grand slam.  Tyler Thomas pitched well against Addison picking up the win and the whole line up hit well.


OBSERVATIONS:
The team will be an excellent defensive team.   Both the infield and outfield are solid and the catcher position is strong.  The Red Devils also will be an excellent hitting team with both power and speed.  In particular, the first five batters will be a tough out every time.  Elkmont is well coached.  Coach Holt knows the game and continues to work with the players no matter the score.  


The Dust Devil sees two weaknesses that this team must improve in order to have a winning season and make the playoffs.  The first weakness is the number of strike-outs.  Even though Elkmont is an excellent hitting team and has scored enough runs so far, but good varsity teams seldom strike-out and put the ball in play to force the other team to make outs.  The second weakness is pitching.  The Red Devils have several good pitchers but none are dominate yet.  Ben Ferguson, Tyler Thomas, Michael Haney and Skyler Gant have the potential to become that top level pitcher.


PREDICTION:
The Dust Devil believes that Elkmont will be a fun team to watch and hitting and defense will be the strength of the team.  He also believes that the strike-outs will be reduced as the players get more practice.  The real question is the pitching.  The Dust Devil is going to watch a few more games before predicting if the Elkmont Red Devils will have a winning season or make the playoffs.

VARSITY RED DEVILS BEAT ADDISON

Elkmont beat the Addison Bulldogs, 12- 5 this Saturday at Blake Jones field.  Ben Ferguson was the starting pitcher and finished three innings with a  2 -1 lead.  Jacob Blenkinsopp came in and got some valuable  varsity experience during the 4th inning.  Taylor Thomas took over in the fifth inning behind 5-2 and shut the Addison batters down.  The Red Devils racked up 7 runs in the sixth inning and combined with Thomas' pitching won 12 -5.  Tyler picked up the win.  No stats were submitted.


The Red Devils are now 2 -2.  Elkmont is able to string hits together this year to drive in runs but are striking out too much; a feast or famine situation.  The infield is playing good defense for the most part but every position isn't nailed down yet.  The outfield played well but again the complete outfield isn't set.  Errors in the the outfield will kill an otherwise solid team.   


Look for the Dust Devil's take on the week's games later tonight.

Reporter:  Hill Spirit