Baseball is Back!

Ladies and gentlemen baseball is back for more than just the MLB! You got that right, the boys of spring returned to the diamond this week to kick off their 2022 campaign after being sidelined last Spring due to the ongoing pandemic. This season your Cougars are looking to regain their rightful place at the top of the Atlanta Athletic Conference.

Mental Mistakes Make Ram’s Day

The Cougars took the field against a good-looking Rams team in their first outing of the season.  Covenant Christian, who already had a few games under their belt, looked like a well-oiled machine as they took the field first and the Cougars came up to bat.  Leading off the first was Senior Ben Johnson who worked himself into a full count before swinging through strike three to be the first out of the inning.  Following Ben was Cougar center-fielder Aidan Briggs, who ripped a 1-1 fastball into right field but unfortunately a slick play by the Rams defender robbed him of the team’s first hit.  After another strike out it was time for the Cougars defense to go to work in the bottom of the first tied at zero.

Toeing the rubber for the first game was Braden Kramer.  Kramer, a consistent strike thrower, must have had his reputation precedes him as the first two Rams came out swinging and all recording singles-one to right, one to center- setting the stage for trouble.  As the inning progressed the Cougar defense proved to have first game jitters get the best of them as 15 Rams came to the plate and 11 crossed home.

Heading into the top of the second inning with a big deficit, the Cougars looked to regain control as Caden Henderson worked a full count walk and moved into scoring position on a passed ball.  Unfortunately, two strikeouts and a groundout put a stop to the momentum and the Rams held their 11-0 lead.  In the bottom half of the second the defensive struggles continued for our purple pumas as the Rams extended their lead by four making it 15-0 after 2 innings of play.

Looking to avoid a mercy rule finish, and the bottom of the order coming up, it looked like the Cougars were going to end the day early.  Especially after the first two batters went down 1-2.  Suddenly, however, the team got a little life as Ben Johnson got hit by a 3-0 pitch and found himself on first base with nothing to lose.  This is when the game got a little interesting! After being chased back to first by the pitcher Ben found himself a good pitch to run on and swiped second easily.  Next pitch he continued his terror on the base path taking third on a passed ball.  With a runner on third and a full count Aidan Briggs found himself in possession of the season’s first hit and RBI as his single brought home Ben from third.  Following in Ben’s footsteps, Aidan soon found himself on third just a few pitches later thanks to a stolen base and a passed ball.  As he eyed home, however, his opportunity would be robbed from him as a strikeout ended the Cougar rally early.

For the remainder of the game the two sides traded scoreless frames before umpires apparently felt the game was early and left the field after only three and a half innings.  In the end the Cougars found themselves on the losing end of the scoreboard falling to the CCA Rams 15-1.  Next up the team will look to rebound against Atlanta Jewish Academy.

Box Score

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
TCS Cougars	0	0	1	0	X	X	X
CCA Rams	11	4	0	X	X	X	X

Batting

Player	AB	Runs	Hits	Walks	RBI	SB
11- Ben Johnson	1	1	0	0	0	1
2- Aidan Briggs	2	0	1	0	1	1
4- Makai Hopkins	2	0	0	0	0	0
5- Caden Henderson	1	0	0	1	0	0
3- Weston Kershner	1	0	0	0	0	0
8- Braden Kramer	2	0	0	0	0	0
12- Alex Hogg	1	0	0	0	0	0
1- Anthony Kovach	1	0	0	0	0	0
6- Sam Bayer	1	0	0	0	0	0

Pitching

Player	IP	H	ER	BB	SO
8- Braden Kramer	1.2	7	15	4	1
11- Ben Johnson	1.1	0	0	1	1