Southern wrapped up its fall baseball practice with the Navy squad sweeping three games from the Gold last weekend, but coach Chris Crenshaw was pleased with the competitive nature his players showed.
The Navy team won 3-2, 4-1 and 8-7.
“We had a good, productive fall,” Crenshaw said. “We had a lot of the basic fundamentals covered, the strategies like bunt coverage got put in. We got to see guys play on the weekends to see what they’ve got, and it led to a competitive fall World Series. Even though Navy swept, they were good, competitive games.
“We had a good combination of pitching, solid defense and situational hitting. We focused on situational hitting.”
Crenshaw and his staff watched the games from the stands while former Jaguars guided the teams along with captains. JJ Rollon and Gustavo Nava Sanchez handled the Navy team with captains Quincy Smith and Jaden Brasseaux. Tahj Porter and AJ Walter led the Gold team with captains Jalon Mack and Caleb Washington.
Infielders KJ White and Marcus Sanders led the Navy team at the plate. White was 6 of 10 with two stolen bases. Sanders was 6 of 9 with six RBIs, two doubles and two steals.
Mack went 5 for 11 for the Gold team. There were no home runs hit, but Damian Johnson had a triple.
Christian Davis and Jerry Burkett each threw four shutout innings for the Navy team in games 1 and 2, while Drew Lasseigne and Brasseaux excelled also.
Washington had 2⅔ scoreless innings for the Gold. Crenshaw also praised the efforts of Ranard Grace and Antoine Harris, who was limited because of his summer workload. Harris had 11 starts and 46 innings pitched for the Jaguars last season.
Crenshaw said he’s still looking for pitchers to take spots in the weekend rotation.
“I feel better about the pitching,” Crenshaw said. “Did somebody step up and say I’m the Friday night starter? A couple of guys have put their hats in for the bid. When we come back from break, they are really going to have to bear down to see who gives us the best shot on Friday nights.”
The Jaguars report back to school Jan. 11 when workouts and skill work can begin. Full practice begins Jan. 27. Southern opens the season at the Cactus Jack Classic in Houston’s Minute Maid Park on Feb. 16.
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