Hot! Memorial Day Baseball Team One Loss From Elimination

By the time the fifth inning came around, Westwood junior Douglas Nobles wasn t seeing a normal-sized baseball when he came to the plate.

It looked like a beach ball, Nobles said after Westwood s 14-0 victory over Memorial Day in five innings Thursday at Sonny Dixon Field in Port Wentworth.

Nobles blasted a two-run shot into the trees in straight-away center during the fifth, capping a two-homer, six-RBI performance in Game 1 of the best-of-three GISA semifinal series.

The elimination game for Memorial Day is at 11 a.m. today at the same venue. If necessary, the deciding contest will begin after the first.

Nobles, who finished 4-for-4 with the homers and two singles, was just as flawless on the mound, throwing a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts.

When he s on the hill and he is on, he is on, Westwood coach Al Timmerman said. He threw a one-hitter earlier in the year. This may be his first no-hitter.

Only two runners reached base for Memorial Day , the first being Donald Bulloch in the second inning courtesy of Nobles beaning.

Bulloch was thrown out at third before Nobles ended the inning with a strikeout of Ben Hester.

Going into the third with a 6-0 lead, Westwood (17-4) added four more runs with two outs. The big swing in the inning came when Nobles drove a ball over the fence in left-center that brought home three runs.

Nobles struck out the side in order in both the third and fourth innings. Following Jake Edore s single to left to lead off the fifth, both Nobles and Timmerman knew the next swing was going to be big.

He knows it when he hits it, Timmerman said. I do, too. He s the big stick in our lineup. We have guys in front and behind him, though, so pitchers have to pitch to him. Everyone was getting hits. They all contributed.

Westwood, which is located in Camilla, wasted no time in unleashing its offense upon Memorial Day pitcher Zach Sauers.

Caleb Morrell and Nobles singled and Alex Chambless smacked an RBI-double while the Wildcats built a 3-0 lead.

Westwood added three more runs in the second, which began with a double by J.T. Edore. He was brought around by Mason Worsham s double, and Worsham scored following a Memorial Day error.

Memorial Day (13-7) will send senior ace Zach Proveaux to the mound today against Westwood s lone senior, Jake Edore.

Matadors coach Rusty Huggins says his team will need more than just a strong pitching performance from Proveaux, who caught Sauers in the opening game.

We have to put the ball in play, Huggins said. That s the key to our success. We had way too many strikeouts.

Nobles, a third baseman when not pitching, hopes to do just as much damage to the Matadors with Proveaux pitching.

We hope to get out of here (after Game 2), Nobles said.

Westwood 334 22 14 16 1

Memorial Day 000 00 0 0 4

W Douglas Nobles. L Zach Sauers. Leading hitters Westwood, Nobles 4-4, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Alex Chambless 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI. Note: Nobles, 5 IP, 0 hits, 1 HBP, 12 K.