MOUNT VERNON, Ga. – Brewton-Parker baseball hosted Talladega (Ala.) over the weekend for an SSAC series on Friday and Saturday in Mount Vernon.

The Barons (9-23, 1-11 SSAC) dropped a pair of games to the Tornadoes (18-10-1, 8-4 SSAC) on Friday before falling in a shortened five-inning game caused by inclement weather on Saturday afternoon.

How It Happened | Friday

Talladega outscored Brewton-Parker 30-18 between the two games on Friday, securing the opening contest in a 14-11 seven-inning battle followed by a 16-7 victory in game two on Friday night.

The Tornadoes led 5-3 after the first two innings of game one, highlighted by a two-run shot in the second inning. For BPC, Tate Worrell secured an RBI single in the first inning while Brandon Lawrence and Eduardo Castillo were credited with RBIs to cut the Barons' deficit down to a pair of runs.

In the top of the fifth, the visitors busted the door wide open with eight runs to take a commanding 13-3 lead. The Barons responded well in the bottom half of the inning, scoring six runs of their own to pull the TC lead down to four.

A wild pitch pushed across one final run for Talladega in the sixth before two runs were brought in during the bottom half of the seventh to cut the deficit back to just three runs. Unfortunately for BPC, there was no more room for a potential comeback in the seven-inning contest.

Brewton-Parker was narrowly edged out 10-9 in hits. Worrell led the Barons with three hits and three RBIs while J. Reid Phillips and Lawrence led the runs category with two apiece.
Carlos Rodriguez (3-2) recorded his second loss of the season, giving up nine earned runs on six hits during 4.1 innings. He struck out five batters and walked five. After a brief appearance for Jered Marrs, Chandler Koerner finished things by throwing 2.1 innings and striking out four in the process.

As for game two for BPC, the Barons' struggles continued in a 16-7 loss. Despite being level 16-16 in hits, Brewton-Parker's pitching woes remained. After an opening RBI double from Castillo and an RBI base hit from Malik Germany, Talladega answered with four runs in the second inning, highlighted by a three-run homer to take a 4-2 lead.

Castillo answered with a grand slam in the bottom half of the second, helping BPC reclaim the lead with a 6-4 advantage. The Barons were held scoreless until the ninth, but the Tornadoes were able to add a run in the fifth inning before blowing out the sixth inning with seven runs for a 12-6 lead.

After a scoreless seventh, TC produced a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth innings to lead 16-6. BPC tallied one final run in the ninth with an RBI base hit from Kyran Coleman to move the score to 16-7.

Both teams produced 16 hits each, but Brewton-Parker gave up three errors while Talladega notched one. Castillo led with five RBIs off a double and the second-inning grand slam. Germany led BPC, batting 4-for-5 from the plate followed by Kennard Dawson, Jacob Mantooth, and Coleman who all went 3-for-5 in game two.

Four Barons made appearances on the bump with Ty Cook (2-9) receiving the loss after tossing 5.1 innings and giving up six earned runs off eight hits. Cook struck out nine batters while walking six as well. Cam Williams tossed for 2.0 innings and struck out a pair while Bryce Morely finished the final 1.2 innings, striking out three.

How It Happened | Saturday

After a delayed start time that pushed first pitch back an hour and a half, the Tornadoes were able to strike first in the second inning by producing three-straight singles to load the bases before pushing one run home on a fielder's choice.

Brewton-Parker responded in the bottom of the third inning, with a solo homer from Drew DeMasi to level the score 1-1. After a brief and scoreless fourth inning, Talladega added two more runs with a two-RBI double to take a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

Coleman was able to connect on a sacrifice flyout to bring home the second run for BPC. The game moved into the sixth inning where the Tornadoes came alive. Unfortunately for the visitors, a lightning delay halted things in the sixth inning and the game was eventually called off due to the inclement weather threat in the area.

The official ruling was made that the game would be called at the last completed inning in which Talladega was leading 3-2 after five, giving the Tornadoes a clean sweep of the series.

Next Up

• Brewton-Parker will hit the road next weekend with a series at No. 8 Mobile (Ala.).