Braves sweep Williamstown

On a cold, dreary, wet Saturday, the Braves and Demons were still able to keep the rivalry going with Grant County defeating Williamstown 13-8, April 21 at Grant County High School.

Matt Birkholtz

Braves hitter Jimmy Robbins delivers a single in the first inning for Grant County, as they scored five runs in the first inning off of Williamstown pitcher Isaac Alger.

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Matt Birkholtz

Demons first baseman Lee Boone puts the tag on Jordan Martin, as Martin was caught off first base.

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Matt Birkholyz

Braves starting pitcher Alex Thompson warms up in the bottom of the first.

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Matt Birkholtz

Demons pitcher Isaac Alger delivers the pitch to his brother, Grant County Brave Lucas Alger during the third inning, April 21 at Grant County High School. Lucas got two hits off of his brother.

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The game was originally scheduled for 11 a.m. at Williamstown High School, but was moved to GCHS at noon, due to having a tarp on the infield and being playable. Grant was the visiting team and Williamstown was the home team.

It wasn’t an easy start for Williamstown senior Isaac Alger, as he surrendered five runs in the first inning.

The Demons pulled within three runs after scoring three runs in the bottom of the third inning.

The Braves pulled away in the sixth inning scoring six times to make it 13-4, but the Demons never gave up, scoring four times in the bottom of the inning, making the final score of 13-8.

Demons first baseman Lee Boone didn’t want to blame the loss on the cold, wet conditions.

“It’s no excuse to lose the game,” Boone said. “Walks killed us and Grant County just hit the ball when they needed to and we didn’t.”

With a couple of players out with illness, Demons coach A.J. Mason had to switch around the lineup, moving sophomore Drew Harris to catcher and Boone over to first base.

Offense wasn’t missing from the game as both teams combined for 21 runs in the game, even with the new bats that are required for play, starting with this season.

The new bats known as BBCOR,  “Bat Ball Co-efficient of Restitution,” give the players a sense of what kind of stroke they may have if using a wooden baseball bat.

“I would rather go with a wooden bat,” Boone said. “If you get it off the sweet spot you can hit the ball good.”

For the Braves, it was a regular-season sweep of the Demons for the fourth consecutive season. The Demons last beat Grant County 15-5 on April 25, 2008.

“We put together a few hits and played as a team,” Braves coach Darrick Lee said. “When you play as a team and are able to get good hitting and good pitching, you can win ballgames.”

The Braves will take on Ryle April 26 at Grant County High School. Williamstown, will face Carroll County April 26 at Williamstown High School.