By Erik Harris
GARDENDALE — On the eve of the Jefferson County Tournament, Clay-Chalkville (1-3) struggled to find offense in a two-game sweep at Gardendale.
The Cougars went down 7-1 in the opener and 10-2 in the nightcap.
“They kept us off balance and we struggled to make adjustments and that’s just something we’re going to have to do as the season progresses,” said Clay-Chalkville head coach Bubba Roberts. “If we’re going to win some ballgames, we have to make adjustments at the plate.”
Two sophomores threw complete games for the Rockets, and surrendered a combined five hits to their guests in the doubleheader.
Righty Drew Love got the start for Gardendale in the opener. Clay-Chalkville managed to go 2-for-22 against him with eight strikeouts and three walks. Lefty Seth Rodgers got the start in Game 2 for the Rockets and picked up right where Love left off, striking out 14 Cougars.
Clay-Chalkville shortstop Tyler Duke swings at a pitch in a game at Hewitt-Trussville last season.
file photo by Ron Burkett
“My arm was feeling good, it was really feeling good tonight,” Rodgers said. “I had a great team behind me. They were making all the plays so I was just throwing strikes.”
Rodgers said throwing first-pitch strikes is his goal, and he met his goal throughout the night.
After the home team grabbed two runs in the first inning of the first game, Clay-Chalkville made it a one-run game in the top of the third when Chandler Parker scored on a fielding error. From there, it was all Gardendale.
Shortstop John Michael Mathews answered Parker’s run with an RBI triple in the bottom of the third, extending the lead back to two runs.
Cougars’ starter Colton Friday held the opposition quiet in the fourth, but a three-run fifth inning would be too much to overcome. Friday went the distance for Clay-Chalkville, giving up nine hits and recording a strikeout. Much of the trouble he got into came as a result of poor fielding behind him.
“It took me a while to get used to that mound and be able to throw strikes and I should’ve done that in the first inning, but just got to be better batting and fielding,” Friday said.
Gardendale ended the scoring when head coach Pat Keedy looked to Harper Haygood to pinch-hit in the sixth inning. He responded with an RBI double down the right field chalk.
Things looked better for Roberts and the Cougars early in Game 2. Right fielder Jalen Buckner started the second by burning the Rockets’ center fielder with a double. Andrew Blount would later plate him with an infield hit to give the visitors their first advantage of the night at 1-0.
Once again, Gardendale responded. Fueled by three fielding errors, they went on to plate six runs in the bottom of the second inning. The third error proved to be most costly, as it cleared the bases to put the game out of reach.
Roberts decided to pull Christian Crawford at that point. He went to sophomore Blake Petty and put him at the bottom of a 6-1 hole. Petty answered the call, throwing the remaining 4 1/3 innings to strike out seven and walk only one.
He got a little help when designated hitter Wesley Meier slapped an extra base hit in the fourth and found his way home on a Blount groundout to cut the Rockets’ lead to four.
But the home team did what they had done all night, and countered with four runs in the sixth inning to clam a 10-2 win and the evening sweep.
