16 April 2006

Batting Practice: Lions fall in slug-fest to Jeff State
Special to the Wallace State Web site.  Reprinted with permission from The Cullman Times.

By Joshua Buckley - The Cullman Times

Damien Mazzetti makes a play at first base during a game earlier in the season. Mazzetti drove in a run against Jeff State on Saturday.

HANCEVILLE, AL-- Wallace State coach Randy Putman predicted his Lions would need to score 15 runs to defeat the Jefferson State Pioneers on Saturday.

   It turned out 14 runs would have done the trick, as the Pioneers pounded out a 13-9 victory over Wallace State.

   “Leading up to a big series in conference play this week, I had to hold a lot of our pitchers back,” Putman said. “I thought we would have to score 15 runs and obviously I was pretty close. It was almost like batting practice out there. But we did some good things at the plate, which makes me feel good heading into next week.” Gerard Sokolis got the call on the mound for Wallace State, as the Lions built up a 4-1 advantage early on. But Sokolis ran into some trouble in the fifth inning, as did the rest of the Lions’ bullpen.

   Cole Thornton replaced Sokolis with two runners on and the Lions holding onto a 4-2 lead. Thornton proceeded to allow three straight RBI-singles before being pulled for former Hanceville star Graham Wright.

   The burly freshman worked a full count on Josh Cardwell, before the righty blasted a three-run homer over the right field fence to give Jefferson State an 8-4 advantage.

   Wallace State could never recover.

   “It’s hard to come back from seven runs in one inning, even if you are the New York Yankees,” Putman said.

   Cardwell hit another homer off of Wright, this one a two-run blast in the seventh inning.

   Wright tried to help the Lions mount a comeback in the seventh, but hitting a three-run home run to center field, which cut the Jeff State lead to 11-7.

   Jake Elmore added an RBI on a groundout in the eighth, but the Lions could pull no closer than three runs.

   Thornton was charged with the loss after giving up three earned runs while recording no outs on the mound.

   Wright led Hanceville with four RBIs, while Elmore, Brandon Lee, Daine Solomon and Damien Mazzetti each had two hits. Elmore had a solo home run in the first inning, and Zealous Wheeler and Mazzetti added RBIs.

   Brett Mickerson picked up the win for Jeff State.

   “We wanted to win today, but I knew it was going to be difficult,” Putman said. “I did see a lot of good things at the plate from us, and if we can swing the bats like that over the next few weeks, I think we can win another state championship.” Wallace State (26-11) begins a critical three-game series against first place Calhoun beginning Tuesday. The first game of the series is in Decatur, while Thursday and Saturday’s games are at Wallace State.

   The Lions are currently two games behind Calhoun in the conference standings and tied for second.

   “Calhoun is a strong team with a lot of sophomores,” Putman said. “They are fundamentally sound and don’t do things to beat themselves. This is a big series for us and we’ll find out over the next weeks whether we are good enough to win state again.”

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  Kristen Holmes
  Director, Communications and Marketing
  Wallace State Community College
  P.O. Box 2000
  Hanceville, AL 35077
  256/352-8118
  E-mail: Kristen.Holmes@WallaceState.edu