By Clint Cox

Photo Caption: Clayton Smith of Sneads rounds third base as he heads to home plate for a run in the Pirates 13-2 win over Blountstown on Monday night. Photo by Clint Cox
Wins have been hard to come by this year for the Sneads Pirate’s baseball squad. So Monday night’s big 13-2 district win over Blountstown was a welcomed reprieve from some recent tough losses, and to add a little nostalgia to the win, the Pirates had donned their "old timer’s uniforms". All the Pirate players and coaches wore baggy pants with the pant legs hiked up to the knee. While the look may have been retro, the win was something very new for the Pirates. "It’s been a while for us since we got a win. We’ve been playing better lately but the wins haven’t come. So this was a really good win for our squad," said Head Coach Mark Guerra.

Blountstown jumped out to an early lead with a home run in the top of the first inning. Trailing 2-0 going into their first at bat, the Pirates knew they needed to answer. Answer they did as Trevin Hall’s RBI double scored Taylor Edge. Josh Blount’s sacrifice fly then scored Hall to tie the game at 2-2. Pat Jones stroked a RBI single to score Johnny Yawn and Clayton Smith’s sacrifice fly scored Jones. That gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead after the first inning. The second inning was more of the same as Marcus Beauchamp led off with a walk. Hall then crushed a fast ball and sent it over the left field wall for a 2 run home run. Jake Roberts followed with a single and Jones hit a RBI single to score Yawn, who had come in to run for Roberts. The Pirates managed to load the bases and then Jerry Bamberg’s 3 RBI triple made it a 10-2 game. Sneads added 3 more runs in the fourth inning as Josh Blount’s RBI single scored Yawn and Beauchamp’s 2 RBI single scored Smith and Blount.

Guerra credited the pitching job of Jake Roberts for setting the tone in the win. "Jake pitched a great game. He threw strikes and gave up no walks. That helps keep the infield alert and then our bats were really good tonight," said Guerra. And of course then there is the pants. He also is optimistic that this win could help jump start his Pirates "Hopefully this will get us started playing better down the stretch as we get ready for the upcoming district tournament (in two weeks)." And of course being a good superstitious baseball coach, Guerra said the Pirates will continue with the old timer’s uniforms. "It’s the pants and we’ll keep wearing them until we lose" Guerra said.

Photo Caption: "It’s the Pants" Members of the Sneads Pirates all wore their pant legs hiked up on Monday night (See Simply Put) and are picture here celebrating a two run homer by Trevin Hall. Photo by Clint Cox