Patriots dominate in round one; rival Oak Hill up next

The Marshall Academy baseball team was simply dominant in its first round Class 4A state playoff series.

Coach Bruce Branch’s Patriots poured it on versus Greenville St. Joseph, scoring 31 runs in the two-game sweep.

“We had some really good at-bats,” he said, “We were also aggressive on the basepath throughout the series, and that’s a big key to success moving forward.”

MA made the long road trip to Greenville Wednesday of last week, jumped all over the Fighting Irish early and departed with a 16-3 win.

MA scored five runs in the top of the first and four more in the second.

The high-powered Patriot offense produced 11 hits. Leadoff man Colton Atherton carried the biggest bat. He had a homer and a triple and drove in three runs.

Jack Smith and Matt Bourdon each had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Landon Houston connected for two doubles and drove in a run. Rusty Bolden had a triple and an RBI and Jordan Bonds a double. Colton Neal added a hit and an RBI.

Walker Sanders and Jamie Graves also each had an RBI in the victory.

MA also scored four in the top of the third to take a 13-0 lead. St. Joe got its only three runs in the bottom of the third.

Bourdon struck out 10 in the game shortened to four innings due to the run rule. The winning pitcher also walked two and gave up three hits.

The series moved to Marshall Thursday, and a huge 10-run second inning propelled the Patriots to a 15-3 win. Smith led a nine-hit attack from the batter’s box. He had two hits, including a double, and two runs-batted-in.

Sanders also had a pair of hits, and he drove in a run.

Connecting for a double and two RBIs each were Atherton, Bolden and Houston. Neal had a double, and Bonds had two RBIs. Colton Foster also picked up a hit.

“A key for us is being patient at the plate,” Coach Branch said. “I thought we were overly aggressive at times in this game. But the more pitches we saw, the more success we had.”

Jackson Graves pitched all of the fourinning contest to earn the win. He struck out five, walked one and gave up six hits.

Next up for the Patriots (27-6) will be district rival Oak Hill Academy. The Raiders also dominated their first-round foe, Indianola Academy, winning the series in two games straight.

In their regular season series, Oak Hill won game one and then Marshall took the next two. It was MA’s only district loss.

“It’s a big series,” Branch said. “They’re Oak Hill. They’re scrappy, and they’re not going away easily.

“We know the ultimate goal (a state championship). We can’t lose sight of what we want to accomplish. We have to bring it every day, be game ready, be locked in.”

Game one of the second round series was set for Tuesday at West Point. Games two and three (if necessary) will be played Friday at Marshall starting at 5 p.m.

The winner of the Marshall-Oak Hill series will face the winner of the Winona Christian School-Kirk Academy series next week for the north half championship.