BA: Cards lose season opener

Southport lost its season opener yesterday, 13-12 to Bowling Green High School in Bowling Green, KY.

The Cardinals led 12-8 going into the bottom of the 7^th inning, but they gave up five runs in that inning, all of which scored with two outs.

Junior 2^nd baseman Austin Young led the Cardinals with three hits and thee runs scored. Senior Curtis Worth went 2-4 at the plate with four RBIs. Senior Cameron Perkins went 2-3 with two RBIs.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1^st but gave up three in the bottom of that inning. They had their biggest lead after a 3-run top of the 4^th inning gave them a 9-4 advantage, but then gave up four runs in the bottom of the 4^th. The Cardinals pushed across one run in the 5^th and two runs in the 7^th, but lost their lead and the game thanks to Bowling Green’s 7^th inning rally. All five Bowling Green runs in the last inning were unearned.

Despite the loss, head coach Scott Whitlock saw some positives in his team’s season opener.

“I thought we showed a very solid offense,” Whitlock said. “I thought defensively we played very well. We have some work to do on the mound, and we have to develop a ****** instinct of where, if you smell blood in the water, you have to put teams away.”

Worth, an off-season transfer from rival Perry Meridian High School, relieved on the mound for the Cardinals to start the 5^th inning and held Bowling Green scoreless in the 5^th and 6^th but surrendered four hits in the 7^th.

“I think I definitely could have stepped in up in the 7^th inning — kept my cool a little more,” Worth said.

The Cardinals (0-1) continue their spring break trip in Kentucky tonight when they play at Greenwood (KY) High School.