The Chattanooga Lookouts delighted the first sellout crowd of the season Saturday night at AT&T Field, topping the Biloxi Shuckers 5-2.
It was the first matchup between the Lookouts and Shuckers at AT&T since last September’s Southern League title series, when Chattanooga won the fifth and deciding game for its first championship since 1988.
“It feels like it was yesterday,” Lookouts first baseman Dalton Hicks said. “They’re a really good team, and it’s always fun to play them. They’re a good hitting team and they make good pitches, and they make plays behind them.”
The Shuckers entered Saturday night with a league-best 22-12 record and scored a run in the first inning, but the Lookouts jumped on Biloxi pitcher Adrian Houser later in the first for three runs. Zach Granite opened with a single to center field, Shannon Wilkerson followed with an RBI double to right and Daniel Palka added a home run to left.
Granite went 4-for-4 before an audience of 6,376, while Ryan Walker continued his successful Double-A start by singling and scoring in the fifth and seventh innings.
While Biloxi has raced out to a solid start following last season’s title series, the same can’t be said for Chattanooga. The Lookouts are 16-20, which is why last September seems a bit more distant for manager Doug Mientkiewicz.
“That seems like forever ago to me,” Mientkiewicz said. “You try to fight those kind of thoughts. They’re still memories, but you try to teach the guys to move on.
“This is a different group, and we’re trying to get these guys to understand that we haven’t really played that well but that we’re not out of it yet.”
Nick Greenwood (0-0, 9.00 ERA) is scheduled to start today’s 2:15 game on the mound for the Lookouts, with Jorge Ortega (0-3, 3.90) scheduled for the Shuckers.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.