By Adam MacDonald
ADEL — The Lowndes Vikings dug themselves into a deep hole Wednesday, and could not climb out of it.
The first six Cook High batters reached base and scored, and the Hornets (12-3) beat the Vikings (7-10) 8-3 in a non-region baseball contest Wednesday at Bruce Long Field.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lowndes starter James Hager walked the first five batters to give Cook a 2-0 lead, and was replaced by Caleb Thomas. With the bases loaded and no outs, Thomas threw a wild pitch that scored a run, then gave up a bloop single off the glove of diving center fielder Brandon Gilbert, which allowed another run to score to make it 4-0 Cook. The Hornets plated two more runs in the first on a sacrifice fly and a two-out single to take a 6-0 lead.
“We knew that they had been kind of erratic on the hill, and (Lowndes head coach) Danny (Redshaw) told us that, and one of our goals was to make them throw strikes,” Cook head coach Bob Owsley said. “I thought we did a good job of that.”
Cook starter Josh Barks pitched his way out of two early jams on the way to earning the win for the Hornets. Barks loaded the bases in the second and third innings by walking and hitting batters, but got Adam Rigoni to strike out to end the threat in the second and got Tyler Hunter to strike out and Gabe Cason to fly out to end the threat in the third.
One day after scoring 23 runs, the Vikings were held without a hit until the fourth inning off of Barks.
“I just came in trying to throw strikes,” Barks said. “I walked too many people, but it happens. I’m just happy to beat a AAAAA team. I haven’t pitched in probably two or three weeks.”
Barks went 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and three runs. He walked six, hit three and struck out seven.
“I thought Josh Barks did a good job, and he needed this outing to build some confidence with,” Owsley said.
Hornets ace Kaleb Cowart came on in relief of Barks with one out and two on in the sixth, with the Vikings trailing 8-3 and threatening. Cowart got pinch hitter Sam Hoff to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play that was extremely close at first base, and brought an unsuccessful appeal from Redshaw.
In the seventh, Hunter hit a ground rule double with two outs, and Ryan Farrill beat out an infield single to put runners at the corners, but Cowart got Lee Rewis to ground out to second.
Cook leadoff hitter D.J. Johnson went 3-for-3 with three singles, a walk, a run, an RBI and a stolen base. Tyler Norton went 3-for-4 with a two singles, a double, a run and two RBIs.
“We left a lot of people on base and could have done a better job of hitting, but it’s a good win, and it’s good momentum for us heading into Friday’s game,” Owsley said.
No Vikings player had a multi-hit game. Hunter’s double was the only extra base hit of the day for Lowndes.
Thomas, who relieved Hager with no outs and the bases loaded in the first, went three innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Cole Parker pitched the final three innings for Lowndes without giving up a run. He allowed four hits, a walk and struck out two. Thomas and Parker are both sophomores that were making their varsity debuts.
“I thought they came in and did a great job,” Redshaw. “We’re looking for some pitching depth. Those guys came out and threw strikes. They did a good job. They gave us a chance to get back in it. That’s all you can ask out of two guys making their first varsity appearances.”
The Vikings return to region action at 7 p.m. on Friday at home against Northside-Warner Robins. The Vikings are alone in second place in Region 1-AAAAA.
“It’s not a complicated game,” Redshaw said. “We have to play like we’ve been playing in region games and we’ll be fine.”
The Hornets host Thomasville in Region 1-AA action at 6 p.m. on Friday. The Hornets are No. 3 in the AA PrepCountry.com/GACA Coaches Baseball Poll.
