Lakeside baseball overcomes tough start

A 1-3 record to start the 2007 baseball season might not be what Lakeside baseball coach Jay Matthews expected. Then again, consider the competition.

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"When you look at it, our three losses have come against (Harlem coach) Jimmy Lewis, (Thomson coach) Terry Holder and (Westside coach) Gerald Barnes," Matthews said. "We weren't playing well, and it was against good teams."

Those three coaches have more than 500 career coaching wins each. Fortunately for the Panthers, the team has turned a 1-3 record around, with three consecutive wins including two victories on Saturday.

Lakeside beat Aquinas 5-1 then knocked off Morgan County 6-1 in a pair of victories at home. The two wins not only put Lakeside above .500, but they also gave Panther fans a look at a potential rising star.

Lakeside junior Chris Morris made significant contributions in both Saturday games.

"He played JV for us last year and didn't get a lot of mound time," Matthews said. Saturday. "He had a big day for us on the mound."

Morris hit a home run in Lakeside's win over Aquinas, then threw a complete-game six-hitter against Morgan County to earn his first win of the year. The junior left-hander gave up one run in the first inning, then threw a shutout the rest of the way.

Lakeside will next face South Aiken on the road on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Harlem goes 5-0

Harlem remained the only active undefeated team in Columbia County during the weekend with a pair of victories in the annual Diamond Dog Day. The Bulldogs beat Richmond Academy 10-4, then knocked off Oglethorpe County 7-1.

Harlem's Wesley Morris went 5-for-8 with two doubles and a triple. The Bulldogs entered the week undefeated at 5-0.

Greenbrier falls

Playing against some of the top teams in the Southeast, the Greenbrier baseball team dropped three out of four games during the weekend in the LaGrange Tournament. Both Greenbrier pitchers Brandon Cumpton and Nolan Belcher picked up losses on Friday, but junior Pat McGowan threw a one-hitter against LaGrange in six innings of work to get a win on Saturday.

"It was still a really good weekend," Greenbrier baseball coach Rodney Holder said. "We played the teams we needed to get ready for our tough subregion schedule."

Greenbrier entered the week with a 3-4 record and host Harlem Friday at 5 p.m.

Prep takes two

Augusta Prep picked up two wins on Saturday in a double-header against Curtis Baptist. The Cavaliers won the first game 12-1 with a complete-game one-hitter from pitcher Brad King. Augusta Prep hung on for a 6-5 win in the second game of the day with seniors Chris Burch and Spencer Morgan combining for the win.