LAPEL — In a span of two games, the Lapel Bulldogs baseball team outscored its opponents 32-11, picking up home wins against Frankton and Daleville.
In Monday’s matchup with Daleville, the Bulldogs tallied 16 hits in a 19-8 win. Brock Harper collected four RBI on three hits. Parker Allman had three hits as well, and Noah Clark hit a two-run long ball.
While the Bulldogs scored six runs to answer Daleville’s four-run first inning, Lapel sealed the game with nine runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth to end the game in five innings. Kyle Shelton earned the win for the 7-4 Bulldogs, striking out nine Daleville batters.
In Friday’s 13-3 win versus the visiting Frankton Eagles, the Bulldogs scored runs so fast in the fifth and final inning, many didn’t even realize the game was over.
“Anytime you get to play your rival, it’s always exciting for everyone,” coach Matt Campbell said.
Lapel held a 5-3 lead going into the fifth inning with the Eagles coming to bat. The Eagles went down in order after three straight throws to first for outs, as the Bulldogs defense showed it could keep pace with the offense.
“It is very nice to see your defense play well,” Campbell said. “Early we struggled. Pitchers struggled to get strikes, and now the pitchers have found their groove. Then our defense was struggling, so it’s really nice to see our guys make the plays and see that practice has paid off.”
To open the fifth inning, Isaac Bair doubled before going to third on a wild pitch. A subsequent sacrifice by Harper scored Bair in what was to be the start of the end of the game.
Camden Gooding hit his first career home run as a solo blast to left field.
Both Clark and Shelton were the recipients of the off-target pitches, but with the bases loaded each time, the Bulldogs added two more runs to the total. Harper’s final at-bat was a line drive single to score Owen Imel and Allman to bring the score to 13-3 and the 10-run margin needed to end the game early.
Multiple Bulldogs had two hits with Allman, Imel and Harper recording three RBI each.
With spring break and the Madison County tournament over, the Bulldogs are hitting their stride.
“It’s nice this part of the season is here, and you can just roll,” Campbell said. “We have 15 games in the next three weeks, so it’s a good time to start putting things together.”
Lapel finishes the month of April with a game every day.
Its next home contest is scheduled for today, Thursday, April 29, against Tipton.