It wasn’t exactly an inning to put in the postseason highlight reel, but for the Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe Warriors, scoring three runs in any inning this baseball season is reason to celebrate.
So after three fifth-inning runs on a single hit keyed a 5-1 nonregion win over Trion on Friday, LFO coach Johnny Burch wasn’t being picky.
“I’ll take it every day,” a smiling Burch said about the inning that also included three walks and a hit batter. “That’s what we preach to these guys. It’s hard to pound out six or seven hits in a row, but you can get on base and take advantage of them. The big thing for us this year is scoring runs. We’ve lost a ton of games 3-2 and 2-1, so a run here and there makes a big difference.”
LFO (6-10) has scored three or fewer runs in each of its 10 defeats, so Friday’s outburst, which came on just four hits, was much-needed medicine. It also pleased Burch that senior pitcher Cole Ellis continued his resurgence after an adjustment with his arm angle two starts ago. Ellis limited Trion (10-6) to five hits, struck out eight and walked one.
“We switched my arm angle to three-quarters and I’ve probably picked up three or four miles an hour on my fastball,” Ellis said. “We’ve struggled this year scoring, so to get this win after winning at Adairsville is big. We’ve got to find a way to get in the playoffs, so, mentally, this is a nice win for us.”