By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

ALABASTER – On March 28, Kingwood Christian School and Evangel Christian School, two schools roughly a six-minute drive apart met on the baseball field for the second and third time in the history of either program. Kingwood, an AISA school, beat Evangel, an ACSC school, in the first game of the 2016 season 10-4 back on Feb. 11, but the Lightning were able to get two doses of payback the second time around, beating the Lions in back-to-back games by identical scores of 6-4.

 

Game 1. Evangel 6 – Kingwood 4

Kingwood took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second inning when Garrett Landry, the first batter of the inning, tripled to center field and was then promptly brought home when JP Calvert grounded out to second base. That 2-1 score held until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Lightning erupted for five runs to take a 6-2 lead that they never relinquished. Hahn Hahn Lau hit a single and a triple in the inning to lead the charge.

The Lions got a run back in the top of the fifth and the top of the seventh innings, but could not come all the way back as Evangel got the win.

Jacob Albright pitched a complete game for Evangel, throwing 99 pitches over the course of seven innings, giving up four runs on five hits while striking out nine in the winning effort. Wyatt Baker started the game for Kingwood, going four innings before being relieved by Landry who finished the game for the Lions.

 

Game 2. Evangel 6 – Kingwood 4

Evangel took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning in the second game of the doubleheader, and held a 3-1 advantage entering the third before Kingwood scored three runs in the top of the inning to momentarily take a 4-3 lead. Shiloh West, Landry and Baker all scored in the inning to give Kingwood a momentary lead. The lead did not last long for the Lions however, as Evangel added a pair of runs in the bottom of the third via an Austin Simmons double and a Max Shaw triple to retake the lead. Simmons added another insurance run in the fifth inning for Evangel as the Lightning moved to 10-8 with their second-straight 6-4 win.

Lau started the game, throwing 2.1 innings before Josh Lau came in in relief. Josh Lau threw the final 4.2 innings and gave up just one hit and no runs to preserve the win. West and Landry pitched for Kingwood as the Lions fell to 11-13-1.