Saints advance

Published 12:20 am Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Ben Pettus put together 4.2 strong innings for the Saints as LBWCC beat Chattahoochee Valley on Monday in the loser’s bracket of the Alabama Community College Conference State Tournament in Ozark.

Pettus threw a 3-hitter and allowed two earned runs in his no decision.

“We had great pitching from Pettus,” Saints head baseball coach Steve Helms said. “He gave us a chance (to win).”

The Saints beat a Chattahoochee Valley team that had been ranked No. 1 nationally for most of the season, Helms said.

“We played very well today,” he said. “We beat a very good team.”

Thomas Dorminy earned the win on the mound, striking out five batters in 2.2 innings of work.

LBWCC started off with two runs in the first inning and added one run in the third to take a 3-0 lead.

CVCC bounced back with one run each in the fourth and fifth to cut the game to 3-2.

LBWCC added one run in the seventh and pushed two runs across in the eighth to pull away.

Conner Smith hit in three of the Saints’ six runs. He had two hits. Trey Chambers went 2-for-4 with an RBI; Trevor Maxey went 1-for-3 with an RBI; and Johnny Eaton went 0-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Saints.

In other state tournament action, LBWCC fell 8-7 to Wallace State in 11 innings on Saturday, and beat Enterprise State 8-5 on Sunday.

LBWCC will face the loser of the Southern Union-Wallace State-Hanceville game at 12:30 p.m. today at Eagles Stadium.