LONGVIEW — In a tale of two ballgames, Titus Will struggled from the plate only to rise back up to split a Area 2 North League doubleheader with LC Black in Junior Legion baseball action. LC Black took the early game, 4-1, followed by a 10-8 Titus Will victory in the nightcap here on Monday.
The Centralia squad could only corral three hits while committing three errors in the first game, scoring right away in the first inning to have their lead erased by a 3-run second inning for LC Black.
Sak Alexander went the distance on the mound for Titus Will, allowing six hits from the hill.
“Offensively, we were not good,” Titus Will coach Rex Ashmore said. “We were so-so defensively. Sak threw well enough to keep us in it, but we just couldn’t do enough on the offensive end.”
The tables turned in the final game of the evening, resulting in 14 Titus Will hits. After 5 runs in the first inning, the squad continued to tack on scattered runs, surviving rallies in the second and fourth frames to prove victorious.
Alexander went from a solid pitching outing in the first game to a perfect performance from the plate in the latter game, going 4 for 4 with two doubles and 3 RBIs.
Logan James and Cody Parker both went 2 for 4 from the plate while Isaiah Trevino went 2 for 5 with an RBI for Titus Will.
“Their pitching wasn’t nearly as strong,” Ashmore said. “We got three walks in the first and took advantage with a few base hits. After that, we just had better approach at the plate.”
After four innings in the circle from starting pitcher Conner Spencer, Cody Parker stepped in to finish things off for Titus Will, allowing a leadoff single only to follow it up with nine straight retired batters to bring the night to a close.
“Cody threw really well for us,” Ashmore said. “He came up big. Sak did too, swinging the bat well in the second game. It was nice to them do so well.”
Titus Will (5-7 league, 8-7 overall) will host River Ridge at Ed Wheeler Field in a nonleague twinbill on Wednesday.
