By Thomas Sellers Jr.
CORDOVA – Missing more than 300 days away from the field with classmates and coaches, the Munford Cougars were just happy to be back on the diamond representing their school.
After winning their 2021 season opener at home 8-2, it was time for the Cougars to jump on the road to the campus of Evangelical Christian School to take on the Lake Cormorant Gators from Desoto, Miss.
“Getting to enjoy the experience of playing high school baseball,” Munford Head Coach Scotty Yount said. “I’m 50 years old and I still talk about the time I played high school baseball. Getting those memories and having those memories is so important.”
The Cougars made a fun memory March 16 in their second game of the Lewis Harris Tournament beating the Gators 4-1.
“We played a little better last night than we did today,” Yount acknowledged. “Our guys are still not swing the bats like they will. Not too many timely hits, no timely hits really. We’ve had the guys in scoring position but we’ve had to depend on guys in the bottom of the lineup for production.”
After two scoreless innings, Munford cracked the scoreboard in the third inning after a leadoff double from University of Memphis signee Shane Cox.
The Gators committed a balk advancing Cox and teammate Trent Suggs who reached on a walk.
Cougar Garrett McKinney drove a fly ball deep enough for a sacrifice fly to bring home Cox for a 1-0 lead.
Munford went ahead 2-0 in the fourth inning when Cox drove in Chris Swords with a ground ball. Swords reached base on a bunt single.
With the Munford bats limited, the Gators cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fifth inning. In need of some insurance, the Cougars clawed out a run in the sixth and seventh innings.
Swords manufactured the third Munford run with an one-out double. When he stole third base a bad through allowed him to cross home plate.
Small ball led to Munford’s final run when Tanner Davidson stroked a single to reach base. When Lake Cormorant tossed a pass ball to the backstop, Davidson gave Munford a three-run advantage.
“That little lefty they threw gave us fits so we had to keep the ball on the ground,” Yount noted. “We played the short game to score some runs.
“All in all you win in all kinds of ways,” he added. “We grind one out there against a gritty little time out of Mississippi.”
Yount said his Cougars are happy with the win and just being back in the dugout for games. And he hoped his guys learned in the process good pitching from players like Tyler Smith, Chase Spears and Trey Elliot will give you a chance to win games.
“We had some guys come off the bench and serve some roles for us today,” he concluded. “I told them today, ‘It’s going to take all of us. You have to be ready to do the job.’ There energy has been really good through two games. Everybody had been into the games, overall good start.”
