Parvin, Nettles lead BA

Published 6:48 pm Friday, April 30, 2010

Senior pitcher Tyler Parvin and eighth grade catcher LandonNettles provided the 1-2 punch Thursday night for the BrookhavenAcademy Cougars. Parvin authored a 4-hit shutout and Nettlesdelivered 5 RBIs with a 3-run double and a 2-run homer as the hostCougars blanked Central Private’s Rebels 6-0.

The Cougars (25-6) won the Class AA best-of-three state playoffseries the hard way after losing yesterday’s opener 13-0 in fiveinnings. They had defeated the Rebels 6-3 Tuesday night at Baker,La.

BA advances to the South State championship series against theCentreville Tigers. Centreville eliminated Glenbrook, La.

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Parvin (9-3), a 6-foot, 165-pound senior right-hander, had nearperfect control most of the 7-inning game. He struck out eightbatters and walked three, issuing two free passes in CP’s finalturn at bat.

It was a must-win situation and Parvin responded. He helped hiscause with two singles.

“There’s always pressure when you have to win,” said thesoft-spoken Parvin. “I was able to locate my fastball and mycurveball was really breaking.”

Parvin said he had confidence in his teammates. “We were kind ofdown in the first game but Landon and the rest of the team steppedup tonight. I told them all I needed was three runs but they got mesix.”

Nettles had two doubles in the game. His second 2-bagger came inthe fourth inning and bounced to the left field fence, scoringthree runs.

“I just wanted to hit the ball,” said Nettles. The first home runof his varsity career came in the sixth and drove in courtesyrunner Dan Coleman, giving the Cougars a 6-0 lead.

Bubba Keene had scored BA’s fourth run an inning earlier. He wentdown swinging against southpaw reliever Tyler Brown but the thirdstrike was mishandled and he reached first base. Keene stole secondbase and went to third on a wild pitch. He was caught in a rundownbetween third base and home plate but the catcher’s throw bouncedoff his batting helmet and he slid safely home.

BA first-year head coach Casey Edwards was pleased with his team’sturnaround in the second game last night. He praised Parvin’sperformance.

“Tyler won’t wow you with velocity but he will throw strikes,” saidEdwards. “He won’t give any free passes.”

Edwards decided to give Nettles some at-bats instead of putting adesignated hitter in his spot. “Landon is an example of a young kidwho wants to have fun playing baseball.”

Senior right-hander Stephen O’Bryant returned to the mound for theRebels (19-8) after pitching Tuesday’s loss. Encouraged by a vocalgroup of devoted fans, he held the Cougars scoreless until thefourth. He struck out four batters and walked two, allowing sixhits and three runs before exiting in the fifth.

C. Private 13, Brookhaven 0

The Rebels could do no wrong in yesterday’s opener while theCougars could do nothing right. They took a 10-0, second-inninglead, capitalizing on walks and Cougar errors. They had 10 runs onjust three hits. Ryan Young slapped a 2-run double.

Hunter McCullough ( 1 K, 7 BB) started for BA and was replaced byKeene (5 K, 1 BB) in the second. A 2-RBI double by catcher SethStevens put the Rebels up 13-zip in the fourth.

On the mound, senior right-hander Kerry Burns (4-1) handcuffed theCougars with a 2-hitter. He struck out three batters and walkednone.

“Kerry went out there and located,” said CP coach Jason Kinchen.”I’m real proud of him. He gave us a chance to win.”

Keene and Will Gatlin singled for BA.

CENTRAL PRIVATE 13, BROOKHAVEN ACAD. 0

Central Private 460 30 — 13 7 1

Brookhaven Acad. 000 00 — 0 2 3

Kerry Burns and Seth Stevens. Hunter McCullough, Bubba Keene (2),Gage Posey (5) and Landon Nettles. WP: Burns (4-1). LP: McCullough.2B: Stevens (CP), Ryan Young (CP). Multiple hits: Hunter Fontelroy(CP) 2. Single: Central Private (Steven Bryant, Tyler Brown).Brookhaven (Keene, Will Gatlin).

BROOKHAVEN ACAD. 6, CENTRAL PRIVATE 0

Central Private 000 000 0 — 0 4 5

Brookhaven Acad. 000 312 x — 6 7 1 Stephen O’Bryant, Tyler Brown(5), Stephen Tate (6) and Seth Stevens. Tyler Parvin and LandonNettles. WP: Parvin (9-3). LP: O’Bryant. HR: Nettles (BA). 2B:Nettles (BA) 2, Stevens (CP), Jason Young (CP). Multiple hits:Nettles (BA) 3, Parvin (BA) 2. Stevens (CP) 2. Single: CentralPrivate (Brad Miller). Brookhaven (Bubba Keene, Tripp Jolly).