Baseball Season in Swing

photos and story by Jacob Factor

A win and a loss. Luther Baseball’s first combined middle and high school home games Monday night was a mixed bag, with a solid win for the middle school and a loss for the high school. There’s great potential as the varsity Lions settle into the season.

It was a packed parking lot for baseball as fans turned out to see the fresh diamond and the teams go to work.

The high school starting line-up was: Chad Pridemore at pitcher, Jace Wilson at catcher, Gus Sumner at first base, Reed Wilson at second base, Forrest Crick at shortstop, Blake Christy at third base, Peyton Wilson at left field, Jesse Cole at center field and Josh Butler at right field.

Prague started the first inning at bat with a line drive straight to Crick, for the first out, but the Lions let Prague get a three-run lead before getting the second and third out in a double play at First and Second.

Luther’s lead batter, C Pridemore, hit a hard grounder past the second baseman for a single. J Wilson hit a pop fly straight to the left fielder who caught it, Jesse Cole went down swinging for the second out and the catcher threw the last pitch to third base to get Pridemore out in a quick finale for the first inning, keeping the Devils a 3-0 lead on the Lions.

The Lions introduced a new pitcher to the mound, Blake Christy, who hasn’t pitched in a game since his freshman year. He threw in the second inning and saw a double play at home and first base, but had no better luck on the scoreboard as Prague sent fifteen batters to the plate and lengthened their lead by eleven points.

In the bottom of the second, Luther saw its first run when R Wilson hit Christy home in an RBI to put the score at 1-14.

The third inning saw another new pitcher for the Lions, Peyton Wilson, and better fielding from them with only one run from the Devils. However, the Devils also stepped up their fielding to keep Luther from scoring.

Centerfielder Jesse Cole dove to catch a fly ball for the first out in the fourth inning, and kept the Lions in good spirits to keep the Devils from scoring.

Christy hit a line drive to left field for a double, and first baseman Gus Sumner found a hole in left-center to give Christy a chance to run home, giving the Lions hope and another run, but couldn’t follow through after three consecutive outs.

The varsity Lions played again Tuesday night with another loss. But the season is early! The next home game is March 27.