Bowling Green falls to Centreville in five innings
By Brandon Wright
Bowling Green found itself on the wrong end of the 10-run rule Monday, falling 13-2 to Centreville Academy in five innings. The Tigers jumped on BGS starter Justin Lockhart early, with the first six batters reaching base en route to a four-run inning highlighted by a two-run home run by Brad Jelks. The Bucs managed a run in the bottom of the first when C.K. Creel singled home Jason Milton, but Centreville broke the game open in the second.
By Brandon Wright
Bowling Green found itself on the wrong end of the 10-run rule Monday, falling 13-2 to Centreville Academy in five innings. The Tigers jumped on BGS starter Justin Lockhart early, with the first six batters reaching base en route to a four-run inning highlighted by a two-run home run by Brad Jelks. The Bucs managed a run in the bottom of the first when C.K. Creel singled home Jason Milton, but Centreville broke the game open in the second.
The Tigers plated four runs in the inning, three charged to Lockhart and one to sophomore Chris Lott, who replaced Lockhart with one out and went the rest of the game for the Bucs. Lott pitched three and two-thirds innings, allowing seven runs on six hits. Lockhart gave up six runs on five hits in an inning and two-thirds. The Bucs added another run in the second inning when Lockhart drove in Alex Mizell, trimming the lead to 7-2. The Tigers plated two more in the fourth and four in the fifth to go up 13-2 and putting pressure on the Buccaneers to score in the fifth to extend the game. Kasey King reached base to lead off the inning, but BGS couldn’t get a runner past second base and the game ended.
BGS head coach Brett Beard said his team did not play well at all, offering an unpleasant reminder of some past Bowling Green teams. “We kind of resorted back to old school Bowling Green baseball. We didn’t make plays,” he said. “We kind of sat back on our heels. Instead of wanting the baseball you could tell we were kind of going ‘Oh, please don’t hit me the baseball.’ That whole mentality, that aura, it just eats you up and it can eat you quick. It got us tonight.” The meeting was the second between the two teams in three days. Centreville won the first meeting, 7-3, and Beard said the games were similar. “We played up there Saturday, and it was really the same type of situation,” he said. “We let the wheels come off a little bit and they jumped on us.” Beard said Centreville is a very strong baseball program and a playoff team, but he expects his team to compete better than it did. “This is still a program that’s learning. It’s still a young program as far as learning to compete at a high level and win a lot of baseball games,” Beard said. “We’re going to have nights like this, we’ve just got to be able to bounce back.” That opportunity to bounce back will come sooner than Beard expected. During Monday’s game, Beard received a message from Jackson Prep wanting to schedule a game in Jackson, Miss. on Wednesday. Beard said the offer is a tremendous opportunity and a sign his program is headed in the right direction. “When was the last time Bowling Green got a call from a team like Jackson Prep to want to come up there and play? In the past that would have never happened,” he said. “I think the word is out that we’re competitive, we’re playing a lot better baseball and we play disciplined baseball.”
