The Crimson Tide baseball team fell, 3-1, at home to Windham after stranding multiple runners and failing to find the gaps to drive in runs. Despite a solid performance on the mound by junior Alex Turant, Concord struggled to find a way to overcome the deficit.

The Highlights

Turant shut out the Jaguars for four consecutive innings after the Tide let a run get through in the first inning due to a few errors. He finished the day with 10 strikeouts, allowed four hits and only walked two batters.

Offensively, the team found ways to get on base early, but only scored after a big RBI double that flew into the left field warning track by senior Trevor Craigue to tie the game at 1-1. The fifth inning rally seemed destined for more with sophomore Tyler Mayo on third and Craigue on second, but the Tide remained tied by the end.

In the bottom of the seventh, after Windham scored two in the sixth, Mayo and Craigue got on base again alongside junior Tommy Weaver, who came in as a pinch hitter and took a walk to load the bases.

“It was kind of those big hits in big moments. We had, I think, second and third like three or four times today, couldn’t cash in. But things will come together, I’m not worried, we’ll be fine,” Craigue, the senior captain, said.

Concord was on the verge of a late comeback, but in the end, it did not materialize, and the stranded runners came back to bite them.

A work in progress

Including the loss against Windham, Concord has only scored four runs in its first four games. The batting experience is on the lighter side compared to some of the competition in Division I, and coach Scott Owen believes it will materialize over time.

“We just got to keep grinding and be more disciplined, be a little more competitive in those situations, believe in ourselves a little bit more, and some of that comes with time,” he said.

The squad is still very young, with only three rostered seniors. Some of Windham’s baserunning was tough to keep up with, and a few unforced errors by Concord led to runners having the chance to score.

Still, Owen said that it’s very rare to win, 1-0, in baseball and that the bats have to start heating up.