Piedmont’s Tolbert delivers in return to lineup, helps Bulldogs rout Prattville Christian in Spring Break Experience opener
By Al Muskewitz
OXFORD – Matt Deerman taped the Piedmont lineup to the door frame of the dugout Thursday morning without much fanfare, but it still created buzz.
Jack Tolbert walked over to look and when he saw his name on the card – in the lineup and playing a position – he got excited. And so did his teammates.
It had been three weeks since the senior first baseman was in the order and in the field, but Deerman felt the time had come to turn him loose. Tolbert responded by delivering a two-run single in his first at-bat, driving a ball deep to left in his third and fielded the final out of the game in a 10-0, five-inning rout that closed Prattville Christian’s Choccolocco Park Spring Break Experience.
“It felt great,” Tolbert said. “I’m excited to get back to playing. Being out really bummed me out. Waiting it out was miserable watching everybody else get to play, having to sit there, but I know it was for the best.
“Coming back, I’m excited. It feels a lot better to be able to play in the field and everything.”
Tolbert pulled his hamstring scoring a run against Sylvania three weeks ago. It was only supposed to be a two-week shutdown, but it went into a third as Deerman wanted to ease him back for the long haul.
He DH’d Saturday against Cleveland and pinch-hit in the second game, but Thursday was the first time he was back to being a baseball player in full – pain-free – at the plate and in the field.
“As a senior, he broke way into the starting lineup,” Deerman said. “The first three games he’d been hitting really well and then the injury comes about; it was just heartbreaking to him. He had to sit there and watch his teammates play. He’s finally gotten his shot and then have to sit there and watch his teammates, I’m tickled to death for him he’s back. He had a good day today.”
PCA opened the game with Edrick Yelder on the mound. The lean, hard-throwing Alabama State commit struck out five in the first two innings of a combined no-hitter against White Plains Monday, but couldn’t find the plate against the Bulldogs. He walked four of the six batters he faced before being lifted with one out and two home.
Tolbert greeted reliever Brooks Bius with a solid single to left that gave Piedmont a 4-0 lead.
“I felt like I was getting back, but when I got that one hit I felt like I was pretty good,” Tolbert said.
“I’m glad he picked up where he left off,” Deerman said. “A kid like Jack who’s hung in there and stuck with the program and trusted the process, it’s rewarding to see a kid like that have some success coming off an injury like that.”
The Bulldogs extended the lead to 8-0 in the second on a wild pitch, McClane Mohon’s two-run double and Jake Austin’s sacrifice fly. They pushed across two more in the third on Austin Estes’ sacrifice fly and a balk. Mohon went 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs.
Jack Hayes (3-0) and Noah Reedy held the Panthers to two hits in the shutout and faced only two batters over the minimum. Reedy needed just eight pitches to get the final three outs.
The Bulldogs (13-4) return to Choccolocco Park Friday for games against Staley (Mo.) and 7A Dothan.
Staley is one of four out-of-state teams playing in this year’s Experience. The others are Rockbridge (Mo.), which plays in the same region as Staley, Golden (Colo.) and Grove City (Ohio).
“I’m excited about it,” Deerman said. “It’s going to be a challenge. They’ve got guys playing at Power-5 schools. We know what we’re getting ourselves into. I want to see how we match up against some big dogs like that. We like a challenge every once in a while.”
Prattville Chr. 000 00 – 0 2 1
Piedmont 442 0x – 10 6 0
WP: Jack Hayes. LP: Edrick Yelder. 2B: McClane Mohon (P). 3B: Austin Estes (P). [*** read more]
