Bay shows its class of county with win over Mosley (See Player, Game Photos)
LYNN HAVEN — A quick scan of Bay and Mosley’s baseball rosters shows eight seniors on each squad. But Tuesday’s 7-4 win by the Tornadoes showcased that there is a vast disparity in actual playing experience.
Virtually all of Bay’s upperclassmen have come up through the ranks as regulars at one time or another in their varsity careers. The opposite is true for the Dolphins, nearly all of their seniors in their first season as starters.
The third inning, which proved to be the difference in the outcome, underlined the point.
Mosley (6-4) junior left-hander Josh Hart basically coerced groundballs from the Tornadoes’ first seven batters in the inning. They produced four runs.
Kevin Husum led off with a bouncing single up the middle and moved to second when Nic Gurley’s bunt eluded third baseman Chris Dame’s dive and went for a hit. After that, the Dolphins’ inexperience became evident.
Husum stole third on a fake bunt attempt and scored when Harrison McElheney grounded into a force at second. Chris Tatum reached on an infield error, which enabled Daniel Husum’s routine groundout to score a run.
Will Parker and Austin Thomas then stroked consecutive grounders that were mishandled, and suddenly the Tornadoes had a 5-1 lead against Hart despite Kevin Husum’s single the only ball leaving the infield.
Not only have the two schools changed identities from the past two seasons with Bay now being the veteran club, the once intense rivalry has been diluted somewhat by changes in classification and the necessity of focusing on district games to enhance playoff potential.
Bay (9-1) pitched by committee, with Kevin Husum, Brian Melson and Dylan Barker combining to allow six hits while striking out nine.
Hart, trying to nail down a role as Mosley’s No. 3 starter possibly earned himself more innings this season. He left with one out in the sixth having yielded four hits against six strikeouts and three walks.
All of Bay’s seven runs were charged to Hart, but only three were earned.
The Dolphins have scored 10 or more runs in four of their victories while combining for just 14 in their four defeats. Although they outhit the Tornadoes six to five, this was once instance where they couldn’t overcome their lack of poise with offensive production.
Mosley’s lone lead came in the bottom of the first when Taylor Marshall was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Dale Irving’s single.
Bay tied it in the top of the second when Chris Tatum singled, stole second and scored with two outs when Thomas got a bad-hop single on a ball that bounced over Dame’s shoulder.
After the Tornadoes’ four-run third, Mosley closed within 5-3 when Cody Consoli doubled home Tyler Williams in the fourth and Jordan Williams scored on Melson’s errant pickoff attempt in the fifth.
Kevin Husum had an RBI double and Gurley a run-scoring sacrifice fly for Bay to make it 7-3 in the sixth. The Dolphins closed the scoring in the seventh when Jordan Williams was hit by a pitch and came around when Trent Emanuel’s single was misplayed by Thomas in left field.
They eventually had the tying run at the plate before Barker got the final two outs.
Bay, unbeaten in its district, plays a 1-3A game at Walton on Friday. Mosley meets Tuscaloosa County (Northport, Ala.) 4 p.m. today in Niceville.
- Bay 014 002 0 — 7 5-3
- Mosley 100 110 1 — 4 6 4
- K.Husum, Melson (3), Barker (6) and Cook; Hart, Hair (6) and Irving.
- LOB: Bay 6, Mosley 7. DP: Mosley 4-6-3. E: Bay (K.Husum, Melson, Thomas), Mosley (Emanuel 2, Russell, T.Williams). 2B: Bay (K.Husum), Mosley (Consoli). SB: Bay (Parker 2, Tatum, K.Husum), Mosley (Marshall). SF: Bay (Gurley). HBP: By K.Husum (Marshall), by Hart (Barker), by Barker (J.Williams).
