Falcons Gain Valuable Experience Against Barons

HOOVER, Ala. - For 36 student-athletes it was an experience of a lifetime as the University of Montevallo baseball team traveled north to take on the Chicago White Sox Double-A affiliate Birmingham Barons. The Falcons got the chance to take on a professional ball club in one of the better stadiums in the Southern League.

The experience began with the Falcons taking batting practice with wooden bats for the first time in many of the player's careers. They then had the opportunity to talk with the general manager of the Barons, Jonathan Nelson, who is a proud graduate of Montevallo.

The game began with a pitchers duel between Montevallo lefty Heath Wilson (Boaz, Ala./Boaz) and Barons righty Lucas Harrell. Both teams went scoreless for the first three innings with the Barons delivering the lone hit. The Barons struck first with a solo homerun in the fourth and then scored again on a wild pitch. Overall Wilson went 4.0 innings with just three hits given up and two runs scored.

The Falcons were able to produce their lone hit of the night in the fourth as senior Ryan Norman (Hoover, Ala./Hoover) led off with a single down the first base line. He then stole second but was unable to advance any further.

On the day four runners reached base for the Falcons with three walks and a hit.

The Montevallo pitchers held the Barons to just eight hits and eight runs with three strikeouts. Freshman Wes Rich (Pelham, Ala./Pelham), junior Taylor Edwards (Pleasant Grove, Ala./Northwest Shoals C.C.) and sophomore Stephen Taylor (Clanton, Ala./Chilton County) all picked up strikeouts in the loss.

The Falcons had three of the best defensive plays of the night. Junior Andy Revell (Albertville, Ala./Snead State C.C.), freshman Brett Roney (Wetumpka, Ala./Wetumpka) and senior Dustin Rhodes (Starkville, Miss./Starkville) combined for a 6-4-3 double play to end the first inning. In the fifth junior third baseman Kevin Garcia (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Gulf Coast C.C.) made a diving stab and then doubled off the runner at first to make the first two outs of that inning. The final highlight reel play was in the seventh as senior centerfielder Jeremy Jones (Troy, Ala./Lurleen B. Wallace C.C.) made a diving catch to secure the second out.

The Falcons held the Chicago White Sox's number one draft pick from a year ago, Gordon Beckham, to just one hit as he went just 1-for-4 at the plate with a double and a walk.

The Falcons will return to action tomorrow, April 7 at 3:00 p.m. as they host Columbus State University in their fifth game in four days.