LEBANON, Tenn. – The winning continues for the Baylor Red Raider baseball team.
The Red Raiders had split their regular-season games with Ensworth, Baylor clinching the East-Middle Region title with a 12-2 victory in the first game before Baylor subs dropped a 7-3 decision in the second.
Sophomore Jay Dill was the winning pitcher in that first game.
He was the winning pitcher again Tuesday afternoon when Baylor posted another run-rule win over the Tigers.
Baylor now faces Christian Brothers on Wednesday after the Purple Wave beat Father Ryan, 2-1. Wednesday's game is set for 12:30 (CST) at Wilson Central High School.
Ensworth left at least one man on base in each of the five innings, including two in the fourth and fifth, but the 16-year-old sophomore never flinched as he never allowed an opposing runner to cross home plate.
“That was another good team win as we hit it hard. I feel like I did my job as I consistently hit my spots. I never really got rattled with runners on base as I kind of like that kind of pressure,” Dill said shortly after his team had improved to 25-6.
Dill notched his fifth win in six decisions as he struck out eight and walked three while allowing those four hits.
Garrett Schultz walked with two outs in the fifth and went to third when Elijah Brooks doubled, but Dill got Devin Obee swinging to end the game.
Baylor coach Greg Elie had a smile on his face following his team’s latest win.
“That’s what Jay does when it comes to a big game, but I’m really happy for him,” the coach praised his sophomore righty.
“We didn’t get as many hits as we normally do, but we hit it hard and we made them count. We had some good situational hitting, but when these guys play their game, they’re fun to watch,” Elie added.
Shortstop Danny Corona led the Baylor attack with three hits, including two doubles, two runs scored and two runs batted in.
Leftfielder Nick Kurtz had a big three-run triple in the fourth to extend Baylor’s lead to 9-0 while Colin Ahearn doubled into the corner in right to score Kurtz and plate the deciding run.
Ensworth coach Jason Maxwell knew that his team had to play a near-perfect game to have a chance against the Red Raiders.
“That was a tough one, but Baylor is an outstanding team and you can’t afford to give them extra outs,” Maxwell said after his team’s record dropped to 19-10.
“Stuff like that gets you in trouble. We got behind and started pressing. That didn’t work too well either, but we’re capable of playing much better and I’m confident that we’ll be better tomorrow,” he concluded.
While Dill was the winning pitcher, Morgan Willis was the loser after allowing all 10 runs on seven hits. He struck out three and walked three. He was relieved by Jake McAllister with two outs in the fourth, who promptly allowed Ahearn’s double before getting Taylor Shahan on a grounder to third to end the inning.
ENSWORTH 000 00 – 0 4 2
BAYLOR 410 5x – 10 8 0
Willis, McAllister (4) and Yu; Dill and Larrea.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)