By By Austin Bishop/Special To The Star
March 7, 2001
Lamar School catcher Bobby Stone wasn't thinking about being a hero when he laced a two-run, two-out single to break open a tie game and spark his team to a 9-3 win over visiting Jackson Academy on Tuesday night, he was just trying to survive.
After falling behind no balls and two strikes with the bases loaded, Stone fouled off one pitch, before lacing another outside fastball into right field to put his team up 5-3.
Lamar coach Ronnie Key said that hit opened a door that had been jammed shut for the Raiders.
The Raiders, who are now 1-1 on the year, cranked out 12 hits on the night, including four off the bat of sophomore first baseman Monroe Mayfield.
Lamar had to wait a week to open its season due to bad weather, then faced two strong AAAA programs on back-to-back nights. After losing to Hillcrest on Monday, Key said it was good to win on Tuesday.
Jamie Fontan (1-0) pitched well in his Lamar debut, as the sophomore right-hander struck out three and scattered seven hits over five innings.
Mayfield came on to pitch two scoreless innings and strike out four to close out the win for the Raiders.
Jackson scored a single run in the third and picked up two more in the top of the fourth to go up 3-0.
But Lamar answered with five in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.
Mayfield singled in Drew Moffett for the first run in the inning, then Jeff Knight drove in Justin Brewer, who had walked, with a groundout to make it 3-2.
After a pair of walks, Nick Lisi drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game, setting the stage for Stone's heroics.
Lamar stretched that lead in the fifth with four more runs. After the lead-off hitter was retired, Brewer, Mayfield and Knight delivered consecutive singles.
Two runs scored on wild pitches, then Ryan Satcher drove in one with a groundout and Lisi singled in another.
Brewer and Knight had two hits each for the winners, while Lisi walked three times and had a single in his fourth plate appearance.
Lamar returns to action on Wednesday when the Raiders travel to Decatur to take on Newton County Academy at 3:30 p.m.