Messenger file photo by Chris McCarthy
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
John David Justus and Brody Nelson did their part to help Coosa Christian advance to the Class 1A state baseball quarterfinals for the second straight year.
The two pitchers submitted standout performances in the Conquerors’ 3-2, 6-4 sweep over Addison in the second round of the postseason on Thursday, April 25 in Addison.
“Both of those guys threw lights-out,” said Coosa Christian head coach Dewayne Boyd. “They were phenomenal. We always feel good when they’re on the mound, and they definitely showed why they’re our No. 1 and No. 2 [pitchers].”
Justus’ turn came first in game 1, during which he held the Bulldogs to three hits, one earned run and one walk while striking out eight. He retired the side in order in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings.
Coosa opened the scoring in the top of the first when Nelson led off the inning with a double and scored on Dylan Edwards’ sacrifice fly.
Addison drew even in the next inning on Owen Pratt’s RBI single and went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth by way of Conner Lane’s score off an error.
The winning run came in the bottom of the fifth when Renn Gladden doubled in Justus for a 5-4 advantage. Nelson got some insurance in the sixth on Halen Palmer’s score on Keith Johnson’s sacrifice fly.
“I told our guys before that inning that we needed just one more run,” said Boyd. “That was a big-time hit by Renn, and Keith did a great job of getting that ball high and deep enough to get that insurance run in.”
Nelson’s pitching line in game 2 featured 13 strikeouts as he allowed five hits, two earned runs and one walk. Justus went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, Blaine West went 2-or-2 with an RBI and Gladden went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
“We were just fortunate to get out of there with a sweep,” said Boyd. “Addison is a really good team that is very well-coached. They gave us all we wanted, so I give them credit.”
The Conquerors host defending state champion Appalachian in the quarterfinal round starting Thursday, May 2 at 1 and 3:30 p.m. The if-necessary game 3 is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m.
“This is why we played such a tough [regular season] schedule with so many teams out of our classification,” said Boyd. “I did it for these moments. This is going to be a tough series, and we know what we’ve got to do. We need to clean up a few things this week in practice and then go out and play our best.”