Hammond baseball looks to get swing back
By WORTHY EVANS
Contributing Writing
Columbia - The Hammond baseball team had gotten off to a great start in SCISA Region 1-4A, but a 4-0 loss April 9 at Cardinal Newman snapped the Skyhawks 6-game region winning streak.
The Cardinals got all four runs in the third inning, using two hits, a Hammond error, and two hit batters.
“We had one bad inning where we made an error and hit some guys, and they put together four runs,” head coach Chris Braciszewski said. “We didn’t swing it well either. It was a great game otherwise, we played great defense, but it was just one bad inning.”
That game was showed that the Skyhawks, 11-5 overall, need to improve at the plate if they want to make a strong finish in the region and go deep in the playoffs.
“The region is really tight between us, Cardinal Newman, and Ben Lippen,” Braciszewski said. “We’ve been doing really well, but we haven’t been swinging the bat too well. We’ve been hitting the ball well early in the season, but after we played Augusta Christian we haven’t. That’s baseball, and we went from hitting everything to not hitting anything.”
Braciszewski said he hopes the team can get its swing back in the A.C. Flora – hosted Forest Acres Classic that plays out over Spring Break. Hammond, A.C. Flora, Airport, River Bluff, Lexington, Cardinal Newman, Miller School of Albemarle (Charlottesville, Va.) and Lugoff-Elgin will play four games apiece.
“That tournament is great,” Braciszewski said. “It comes at the right time of the year to get us ready for the playoffs. We see some quality pitching and it’ll give us a chance to really get back into the swing of things.”
Sophomore centerfielder Colt Babic has led the way for the Skyhawks, hitting .511 with 23 hits and 5 home runs. Senior third baseman and Carnegie-Mellon football signee Jack Croft is batting .373 with three triples and two homers and senior shortstop Ben Kirkpatrick with a homer and 14 RBI.
Sophomores Sam Painter, Worth Lundy, Babic and junior Jackson Bozard have been doing good work on the mound for the Skyhhawks.
“Sam Painter has done really well, he’s had some good outings for us,” Braciszewski said. “Worth Lundy has thrown very well and he’s gotten his velocity up and making good pitches, throwing all of his pitches for strikes. Colt Babic has just been cleared to pitch and closed a game recently, we’re getting him worked back onto the mound a little. Jackson Bozard has done well, he started last night, struggled a little bit but he’s been solid all year.”
Hammond softball (5-4, 4-1) lost its first region game to Cardinal Newman April 10 and plays First Baptist, Orangeburg Prep, Laurance Manning Academy, and Providence Athletic Club over Spring Break. The Skyhawks take on Ben Lippen April 22 and April 24.
Senior leftfielder Ava Miller leads the team with a .476 batting average, three doubles and 12 RBI. Senior centerfielder Ali Dorrington has a .407 average with two doubles and four RBI. Senior Barrett Brazell is batting .320 with a triple.
