Bogalusa relief pitchers Thomas Turner and Jay Baham worked through a pair of tough jams over the final two innings to hold off a comeback by Mt. Hermon, as the Lumberjacks held on for a 6-5 win at home Thursday night.
Bogalusa led 6-2 through five innings, but the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases in the sixth and seventh innings.
Dylan Clark led off Mt. Hermon’s half of the sixth with a single to right field. Preston Knight reached on a throwing error and Colby Cutrer was hit to load the bases with nobody out. Turner, who took the mound to begin the third inning, struck the next hitter out. He then got the next batter to ground into a 1-2-3 double play with Turner first throwing to Jay Baham for the forceout at home. Baham then threw a perfect relay throw to first baseman Joemon Roberts to complete the double play and end the inning with Bogalusa still holding a four-run lead.
The Yellow Jackets put another rally together in the seventh. With one out, Kamron Brumfield singled and Trenton Wilson walked. Leadoff hitter Clinton Roux plated Brumfield with an RBI double to the left centerfield gap. A walk to Clark filled the bases for Knight, who reached on a throwing error. Wilson would have scored even without the error, but the miscue allowed Roux to tally. It was a one-run game and the Yellow Jackets had runners at second and third with only one out. Cutrer walked to reload the bases.
Baham then took the mound in a tough spot with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but he got through it. He struck out the first hitter he faced and then ended the game with a groundout to third on a close play at first.
Turner was the winning pitcher after throwing 4-1/3 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits with eight strikeouts and three walks. Turner did not allow a hit in his first three-plus innings and all of his walks were in the seventh.
Baham got the save after his 2/3 inning of relief.
Bogalusa coach Michael Cummings praised Turner and Baham. Cummings noted that Turner has only had a couple of days of practice because of basketball.
“Thomas Turner’s done a real good job,” Cummings said. “He had basketball and he just got through with that, so I’ve had him for a couple of days. He did a real good job just to be thrown up there on the mound.
“He got us out of a tight spot in the third when he came in. He pitched real good. The seventh, he just wasn’t hitting his marks. I guess that’s fatigue. Jay (Baham) came in. Jay did a phenomenal job. I’m proud of him — threw his butt off the last couple of batters — so they both did what was expected, but we’ve just got to knock the rust off.”
Bogalusa jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Baham began the rally by singling to center. He stole and third before scoring on Chas Smith’s RBI single to right centerfield for the game’s first run.
Turner then singled to right field. Smith and Turner were both caught in rundowns, but Mt. Hermon was unable to record an out and both were able to move up to second and third. Marlon Myles hit a grounder to second. The throw went home and Smith was caught in a rundown, but the throw to the third baseman deflected off of his glove and Smith tallied to make it 2-0. Turner scored on a wild pitch. Myles tallied on an RBI groundout by Charles Allen.
Mt. Hermon cut the lead in half in the second. Trey Brumfield walked and swiped second, went to third on a balk and scored on a wild pitch. Remington Bankston walked with one out and advanced to second and third on separate wild pitches and scored on a throwing error, as the Lumberjacks attempted to get him out at third.
The score stayed 4-2 until the fifth inning, when Bogalusa added a pair of runs. Baham singled and stole second and third before scoring when Tyrese Roussell tripled over the right fielder’s head. Roussell scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by Turner, who ended up reaching on an error.
Mt. Hermon loaded the bases in the sixth with nobody out, but was unable to score. The Yellow Jackets again loaded the bases in the seventh when they tallied three runs, but were unable to tie or take the lead, as Bogalusa went on for the 6-5 victory.
“We had some key strikeouts in some big situations, so we’ve got to do a better job of scoring runners,” Mt. Hermon coach Matt Sessions said.
Sessions said his players had some situations they should have taken advantage of, but noted that the team is improving.
“This team’s growing and they’re getting better, but we’ve still got a long ways to go. When we have these opportunities, we’ve got to take advantage of it and take these games when we’re given the opportunity,” Sessions said.