Baseball team sees success in Gulf Shores

The+2018+Normal+West+baseball+team+lines+up+for+team+picture+on+the+beach+in+Gulf+Shores.+

Chris Hawkins

The 2018 Normal West baseball team lines up for team picture on the beach in Gulf Shores.

Ryan Gibson, Staff Reporter

Over spring break the baseball team took a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama from the first Sunday of break to Thursday.

The team took part in the Gulf Shores Tournament, with their first game being against Hackleburg (Alabama) on Monday. The game ended in a 9-8 loss. Senior, Jake Marti lead the team by driving in three runs with a single and a double. The Wildcats also had production from Cody Hardt, who drove in two runs with a double.

Jake Marti (12) said, “Even though we lost it was a close game throughout and I think it prepared us for the following days of the tournament by shaking off the rust from traveling.”

The second game was against Fairhope, Alabama which was also on Monday and ended in a 13-5 win. The Wildcats had big games from Cody Hardt (11), Jeremy Fischer (12), and Sean Shook (10) who all hit home runs to lead the way. Shook also had 3 RBI’s in the game.

The other offensive production came from Brandon Roth (11) and CJ Lewis (11) who each brought in two runs. Indiana recruit, McCade Brown (12) pitched the Wildcats to victory by striking out 13 over 6 1/3 innings.

The third game of the tournament was against Russellville, the defending Alabama 5A state champions. The Wildcats won 6-2. Austin Collinson (11) pitched a complete-game and Ben Smith had three hits and two RBI’s.

Jeremy Fisher was asked about the performances in the game and he added, “Ben was huge for us in this game by having a good day at the plate and Austin went the distance which helped in getting the win.”

The last game of the tournament was a 13-0 loss against Hewitt Trussville, Alabama.

Senior Ben Smith was asked the performances of the tournament and he said, “If I were to pick stars of our trip, I would say McCade was our pitching star and Cody Hardt was our hitting star.”

The team shared two condos and it was agreed by the team that they got closer as a team. The team hopes this tournament prepared them for the postseason.