By WESLEY HALLMAN / Sports Editor

Cornerstone Christian School baseball coach Tim Smith led the Chargers to a first-round sweep of Abbeville Christian Academy in a best-of-three series in the opening round of the Alabama Independent Schools Association Class 1A playoffs April 28.

The next morning, Smith and fellow Cornerstone Christian coaches packed up a vehicle with food and water brought to the school by students and made a trip to Pleasant Grove to deliver the supplies to victims recovering from damage done by a tornado April 27.

Smith said the scene puts baseball, including the postseason, in perspective.

“It puts everything in perspective in life,” Smith said.

The Chargers (21-8) advanced to the second round of the AISA Class 1A playoffs following a 12-4 win over Abbeville Christian in the opening game of the doubleheader April 27. Cornerstone Christian clinched the series with a 10-8 victory in the second game.

Auston Wingard, Hagan Joiner, Dylan Rodgers and Austin Davis each took the mound in the doubleheader and helped the Chargers advance to the second round by limiting the Abbeville Christian offense, Smith said.

Wingard, who has had soreness in his pitching arm, started on the mound in the second game and gave Cornerstone Christian five solid innings, Smith said.

“It was really his first test,” Smith said. “He really played well.”

Wingard led the Chargers at the plate in the opening game as he finished 3-for-5 with a home run and a double. Wingard drove in two runs and scored two runs in the victory.

Joiner finished 4-for-4 at the plate with a double. Chase Payne, who drove in three runs and scored one run, finished 2-for-5 at the plate with a double and had two sacrifice fly RBIs. Josh Anderson, who drove in one run and scored two runs, finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a double.

Sterling Reither finished 2-for-4 at the plate and scored one run. Josh Anderson, who drove in one run and scored two runs, went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double.

Rodgers, who drove in one run and scored one run, finished 1-for-5 at the plate. Seth Woody went 1-for-1 at the plate.

Davis started on the mound and allowed two earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk in three innings. Joiner allowed two earned runs on four hits with a strikeout in two innings in relief.

Payne led the Chargers at the plate in the second game as he finished with three hits, including a double. Sterling Reither drove in two runs in the victory.

Davis earned a save in the nightcap after throwing only three pitches in the seventh inning.

The Chargers will face rival Coosa Valley Academy in the second round of the AISA Class 1A baseball playoffs. The two teams will play a doubleheader May 4, with the first game beginning at 5 p.m. The if-necessary game will take place May 5.

“It should be a fun series to watch,” Smith said.