By: Railey Ayers

Tuesday, the Crenshaw varsity baseball team hosted the South Montgomery County Raiders, in a match that could be considered nothing but dominant.

With the 12-0 victory, senior Cole Roper claimed the title to the team’s most recent shutout, holding the Raiders to only 3 hits in 4 innings. Sophomore Logan Johnson, who usually handles catching duties for the Cougars, swapped positions with Roper in the 5th inning, and took the mound while Roper took the catcher’s gear.

Notable plays in the slow game belonged to Junior Baker Bozeman and Senior Woody Smith, who both had standup doubles. Ben Archie as well as a handful of other Cougars tacked on two RBI. Junior Shortstop Clayton Hester was 3-4 at bat with no errors.

“We’re 5-0 in our region as of today, but there’s not much else to say on that,” said the centerfielder Archie, “We’re moving on to preparing for Pike Thursday.”

The matchup against the 3A Alabama Independent School Association (AISA) powerhouse poses a challenge that hits closer to home than most for the Cougars, especially for Senior pitcher and second-baseman Cade Calhoun. Calhoun spent his baseball seasons up to two years ago in a Pike uniform, and looks forward to playing his old team for the first time.

Another Pike county native, Clayton Hester, chose to wear the Crenshaw uniform as well.

“Pike is always good competition,” said Hester, “It would also be great to grab that Pike tournament trophy and bring it back across the county line.

We’ll have to hit the ball and commit no errors, and just keep playing like a team and have each other’s backs like always.”

“We will definitely have to play our most complete game all season,” said Calhoun, “If we take a lead early, we have to hold it and not let it slip away.”