ROME, Ga. - No. 4 seed Centre baseball had an outstanding day at the first day of competition at the 2026 SAA Tournament. The Colonels opened with a 5-3 win over no. 5 seed Oglethorpe before knocking off no. 1 seed Trinity 4-3 to go 2-0 to start the double elimination tournament.
Game 1: Centre 5, Oglethorpe 3
- The Stormy Petrels got onto the scoreboard first in the top of the fourth as a leadoff error and a two-out walk led to a bases-clearing triple and a 2-0 deficit for the Colonels.
- In the bottom of the fourth,
Chase Austin reached on an error and eventually scored on a base hit by
Aaron Lopez to get one back for Centre.
- Oglethorpe answered back in the sixth with a one-out single and then a double down the line to increase the lead to 3-1.
- With their backs against the wall, Austin led off the bottom of the sixth with a single the other way, followed by a walk from
Evan Weyler. A wild pitch advanced the runners and Lopez drove in the first run with an RBI groundout. With two outs,
Baylor Woodall doubled to the opposite field to bring in Weyler and tie the score at 3-3.
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Jamison Craig led off the seventh inning with a double and
Ben Prather followed with a bunt single to put runners on the corners. A one-out error brought the go-ahead run across the plate.
- In the eighth, Woodall led off with a triple into the gap and scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly by
Graham Johnson.
Zach Heavern needed just six pitches to retire the side in the top of the ninth to secure the 5-3 victory.
Game 2: Centre 4, Trinity 3
- The top seeded Tigers struck first as they scored a run in each of the first two innings, getting two hits in the first and two walks and an RBI groundout in the second to take an early 2-0 lead.
- Prather led off the top of the third with a hit by pitch, one of two for the night for the senior and his eighth in the last week. Singles by Lopez and Weyler put the Colonels on the board and then an error on the next at-bat tied the score.
- With momentum still in the Colonels' favor, Centre kept the rally going as Woodall was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A base hit from Johnson gave Centre a 3-2 lead and a sacrifice fly from
Forrest Day capped off the four-run inning to give Centre the lead by two.
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Aidan Carr came on in relief in the fourth inning and cruised until the seventh when Trinity got a run back with a leadoff double and an RBI groundout. Carr struck out the next batter and then pitched his way out of jams in the eighth and ninth to put Centre into the winners bracket.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will play the winner of no. 2 seed Rhodes vs. no. 3 seed Berry on Friday at 4:30 PM.
