The Salem Tiger baseball squad clinched a share of the South-Central Association (SCA) championship by clipping Ava 1-0 Monday, April 22 at Salem High School.
It was the seventh consecutive victory for the red-hot Tigers, now 13-2 overall.
“Winning a share of the title feels really good,” said Salem head coach Tony Edwards. “These seniors have made our season what it is. This team has followed them and put in a lot of hard work and determination since the beginning of March. We have been winning ball games with great pitching, good defense and timely hitting all season long. This is a credit and testament to all the hard work these players have put in at practice, staying late and taking extra cuts and never losing their confidence while playing the game.
“We have been fortunate to have played well in all three phases of the game most of the season. Our team batting average is up from .212 last season to .279 this season. We have three pitchers who have 4-0, 3-0 and 4-1 records with respective 0.72, 1.81 and 2.03 ERAs. With that kind of pitching for our players and the kind of hitting contact we are seeing this season, how can a coach not be happy about the way this season has developed?”
The Tigers are to end their SCA schedule at Mountain Grove May 6 (4:30 p.m.). Salem is 6-0 in league play while Mountain Grove is 5-1. If Salem wins, the Tigers are the unbeaten league champion. If the Mountain Grove Panthers win, the two teams share the league crown.
“To beat Grove and win the SCA title outright, we are going have to be really good in all three of those phases to give ourselves a chance. And I know this team isn’t satisfied with just a co-share. They want to prove to people that they deserve this title outright because they know how hard they have worked to get to this point. I couldn’t be more proud of this team and their efforts.”
This week Salem was slated to play at Cuba Wednesday (4:30 p.m.) and host the round robin Salem Tournament Thursday through Saturday
In the Salem Tournament, Thursday’s schedule has Salem vs. Cuba at 11:30 a.m.; Cuba vs. Pacific at 2 p.m., and Salem vs. Pacific at 4:30 p.m. The other pool playing Friday includes defending Class 3 state champion Licking, Waynesville and Sullivan. The bracket games are set for Saturday.
April 22 – Salem 1, Ava 0: Throwing the pitching gem against the Ava Bears were Tiger senior Kaiden DuBois and junior Roy Stevens, who combined for the four-hit shutout. DuBois started and worked the first six innings to get the win, allowing four hits and no walks while fanning five. Stevens threw the final hitless, walk-free inning to get the save.
DuBois also drove in the game’s lone run in the bottom of the fourth inning, plating junior Cayden Moody with the game-winning tally.
Salem also totaled four hits, with Moody getting a double while DuBois, senior Owen Hamilton and Stevens all singled.
Salem easily won the four-inning junior varsity game 10-0. Salem’s junior varsity squad got a run in the bottom of the first, two in the second, one in the third and six in the fourth. Sophomore Dannon Berry threw a two-hit shutout to get the win on the mound, walking none and fanning six. Junior Jaxon Raulston had three hits; sophomore Hayden Ragsdale and freshman Brent Halinar two hits each; freshman Cody Lundy doubled, and sophomore Jack Fabick and freshman Wayne Skidmore both singled.
