The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Southern traveled to Abingdon on Thursday, April 11 only to come away with a heartbreaking loss. Southern started out fast, jumping to a 6-1 lead by the third inning only to see it evaporate by mental mistakes, miscues in the field, and stranding eleven base runners.
The Rebels led off the game with Keever, Ragar, and Wisslead scoring early capped off with a homerun by Brandon Rothzen for a 4-0 lead.
Abingdon came back with one of their own in the bottom of the first.
Southern added a run in each of the second and third innings for a 6-1 lead. Abingdon then scored three in the fourth to cut Southern's lead to 6-4.
Abingdon held Southern's offense for the remainder of the game, while adding the winning runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Matthew McIntire started on the mound for the Rebels going five strong innings.
McIntire left the mound leading 6-4 being relieved by Christopher Wisslead. Wisslead was saddled with the loss after the defense gave up three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Game Stats:
McIntire: 1/3, Single, K, HBP
Keever: 1/4, Single, 3 K, HBP, 1 RBI
Ragar: 1/2, Single, K, 2 BB
Wisslead: 1/4, Single, K
Corazatt: 0/3, BB, K, 3 RBI
Rothzen: 1/3, HR, K, RBI
Wilson: 1/3, Single
Dixon: 2/4, 2 Singles, RBI
Ford: 0/3, BB
Pitching:
McIntire-25 batters faced, 5 innings, 4 runs, 6 hits, 3 K, 1 BB
Wisslead-6 batters faced, 1 inning, 3 runs, 3 hits
After the heartbreak on Thursday, Southern hosted Knoxville on Saturday, April 13. The home team showed what type of team they truly are with two solid wins.
Southern once again started out fast. They scored three in the first when Christopher Wisslead drove in McIntire and Ragar with his third homerun of the season.
In the second, Ragar drove in McIntire with his second homerun of the season.
Wisslead and Corzatt reached base by walk and then scored on Ryan Keever's first varsity homerun, a three-run blast to centerfield.
Knoxville finally got on the board with a run in the top of the third inning.
Southern scored one in each of the fourth and fifth innings to make a final score of 10-1.
Christopher Wisslead pitched five strong innings surrendering a single run. Joshua Ragar came on in relief in the sixth inning to finish out the game.
Game Stats:
McIntire-3/4, 3 Single, K
Ragar-3/4, 2 Singles, HR, 2 RBI
Wisslead-1/3, HR, BB, 3 RBI
Corzatt-1/1, Single, 3 BB
Rothzen-1/3, Double, BB
Keever-2/4, HR, Single, K
Wilson-1/4, Single, 2 K
Ford-1/4, Single, K
Linder-0/4, 2 K
Pitching:
Wisslead-5 innings, 23 batters faced, 1 run, 3 hits, 6 K, 4 BB
Ragar-2 innings, 8 batters faced, 5 K, 1 BB
WP: Christopher Wisslead
The second contest saw the Rebels come from behind to take the sweep on the day.
Brandon Rothzen pounded a three-run homerun in the first inning for a 3-0 lead. Knoxville then scored to make it 3-1. Knoxville then scored three in the third to take a 4-3 lead, and added two more in the fourth for a 6-3 lead.
Southern then charged back in the bottom of the fourth when Matt McIntire blasted his first homerun of the season with a three-run shot to left-centerfield, tying the game at 6-6. Knoxville came right back scoring three in the top of the fifth for a 9-6 lead.
Southern showed their character when they scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Ryan Keever reached base on an error and was driven in on a double by Brandon Rothzen.
Rothzen then scored on a double by Nathan Corzatt for a score of 9-8. Mike Lenahan stepped to the plate and hit his first homerun as a Rebel to drive in Corzatt to take the lead 10-9. The final score of the game came when Andrew Linder drove in Chris Wilson making the final score 11-9.
Chris Wilson started on the mound for the Rebels, and was relieved by Brandon Rothzen and then Joshua Ragar came in to finish out the game.
The Rebels played long ball during the day, blasting six homeruns by Wisslead, Ragar, Keever, Rothzen, McIntire, and Lenahan.
Game Stats:
McIntire-1/3, Single, HR, K, 2 RBI
Keever-0/3, BB
Rothzen-3/4, Single, Double, HR, 4 RBI
Corzatt-1/4, Double, 1 RBI
Ford-1/3, Double, BB, K
Lenahan-1/4, HR, 2 RBI
Wilson-1/3, Single, BB, K
Linder-1/3, Single, BB, 1 RBI
Ragar-1/3, Single, BB, RBI
On Monday, April 15, Southern played host to Aledo and once again their poise with another come-from-behind victory. Southern once again came out strong scoring three runs in the first. McIntire led off the game with a double and then Ragar was hit by a pitch. Wisslead singled in McIntire. Corzatt then sacrificed Ragar in from third on a bunt. Wisslead was then driven in by Ryan Keever’s single to right field for a 3-0 lead. Matt McIntire started on the mound for Southern and was cruising until the third when Aledo scored four runs for a 4-3 lead.
Aledo added two more in the top of the fourth for a 6-3 lead. Southern came back with three of their own in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game 6-6. Ford walked to lead off and was driven home by McIntire. Ragar then singled, Wisslead walked, and Corzatt drove in Ragar and Wisslead with a single.
Joshua Ragar came on in relief in the fifth inning and shut Aledo's offense down while the Rebel offense kept rolling, putting three more runs on the board fueled by Wisslead's fourth homerun of the season, a two-run blast. Nathan Corzatt then scored on a hit by Ryan Keever to round out the scoring for a 9-6 Rebel victory.
Game Stats:
McIntire-2/5, Single, Double, 2 K, 2 RBI
Ragar-1/1, Single, 2 HBP, BB
Wisslead-2/3, Single, HR, BB, 3 RBI
Corzatt-2/2, 2 Singles, Sacrifice, BB, 2 RBI
Rothzen-1/3, Single, BB
Keever-2/4, 2 Singles, 2 RBI
Wilson-0/4, K
Ford-0/1, 3 BB
Lenahan-0/3, 3 K
Dixon-0/1
Pitching:
McIntire-4 innings, 24 batters faced, 6 runs, 4 hits, 4 K, 8 BB
Ragar'3 innings, 10 batters faced, 0 runs, 1 hit, 5 K
WP: Joshua Ragar
Above, these six Southern Rebel baseball players blasted six homeruns against Knoxville April 13th. Each player was allowed to keep his HR ball. From left is Ragar, Lenahan, Wisslead, McIntire, Keever, and Rothzen. Homeruns also gain the Rebel team dollars this year from an ongoing homerun sponsorship by fans. **For those who have pledged to Southern's Homerun-A-Thon, Southern now stands at 13 homeruns for the season**