By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – Sitting at 7-6 and reeling from consecutive losses, the Moody Blue Devils Baseball team responded the way you want your team to respond as they invited the Sardis Lions to Moody on Monday. With Bryant Hardin pitching a stellar game, the Blue Devils beat the top-ten Lions in a 6-0 shutout.
After a scoreless first inning, Moody had their biggest output in the second, getting 5 runs on the board before it was all said and done. B Grant opened things up with a triple to center field. Hardin got it done at the plate as well as the mound, stepping to the plate and driving in Grant to take the 1-0 lead. M Morris would reach base on a single before Landon Cherry hit a double to center field and drove in C Graves, who was pinch running for Hardin. Peyton Isbell hit a ground ball that was mishandled at shortstop and that would bring Morris home to make it 3-0 Moody. C Marshall would hit a sacrifice fly to bring in pinch runner C Mitchell who was in for Cherry and B Dodd would do the same (sacrifice fly) to bring in Isbell to make it 5-0 Blue Devils before Kolby Seymour’s line drive to left field would be caught to end the inning.
The third would be another scoreless inning before Moody put up a final run in the fourth when Isbell, who hit a grounder that was dropped by the Sardis pitcher, reached base and was driven in on a single by Marshall to end the scoring for the Blue Devils.
Bryant Hardin went the distance, pitching all 7 innings. He gave up just 3 runs in the shutout while walking just one batter and striking out 4.
“That was a stellar game against a top ten baseball team,” said Moody coach Eamonn Kelly. “We Struggled Saturday against Briarwood but our guys came out Monday and responded. They threw a guy who had some velo and a plus curve ball and our guys were ready. We got to him early and we were able to play good defense and Bryant Hardin pitched it really well. This is the type of stuff you want from your team moving into area play.”
The Blue Devils move to 8-6 as they prepare to travel to Carver on Tuesday and welcome that same Carver team to Moody for a double-header on Thursday.