Warriors undefeated at Gulf Coast Classic

The Washington Warrior baseball team went 4-0 at Gulf Shores over spring break at the 2024 Gulf Coast Classic Baseball Tournament.

They missed out on the bracket play semifinals portion of the tournament to a tie breaker of runs allowed.

Washington allowed nine runs during the tournament while the four teams who got in gave up 6, 5, 3 and 0 respectively.

Warrior head coach Jeff Kulbeth was pleased with his ball club’s play at the tournament.

“The teams we played were good,” he said. “This prepared us (for the rest of the season).”

Kulbeth said the Warriors’ pool team were very competitive this season and likened them to some of the top 10 teams in Class 3A in Oklahoma.

Grove

They defeated Grove 4-0 to open the tournament.

Kulbeth said his team lacked intensity during the game, but despite that came away with the victory.

Senior Tristin Babbitt struck out 11 batters in five innings of work.

Sophomore Jackson Rico closed out the game in relief for the final two innings, striking out four batters.

Offensively, Dax McCaskill was 2-2 on two doubles, with a pair of walks too.

Case Taylor and Koen Scarborough both had RBIs.

Walnut Ridge, Ark.

Washington defeated Walnut Ridge 6-5 in the second game of the tournament.

McCaskill stayed hot at the plate, going 2-4 with a double and a homer. He knocked in four batters in the meantime.

Marlon Moore started on the bump, earning the win.

He struck out 10 batters in 5 1/3 innings of work while giving up two earned runs.

“Marlon had a great start,” Kulbeth said. “We were up 6-1 and had a chance to get out of the inning and didn’t make a play and gave up some runs late.”

Greenbriar, Tenn.

The Warriors next defeated Greenbriar 4-3 on a walk-off hit by Moore in their Tuesday double header.

They got on the board first with a run in the second and tacked on two more in the second before Moore’s liner to right field drove in Kade Norman to end the game.

Moore finished the game 2-4 with a pair of ribbies.

Norman was 0-4 but walked in the 8th inning to set the table for Moore.

Zeke Wilson got the ball on the mound and struck out three batters through four innings.

“It was a solid performance,” Kulbeth said.

Kale Brakefield came on in relief and fanned five batters in four innings.

Gallatin, Tenn.

The Warriors final win, and game, of the tournament was a 6-1 final over Gallatin.

Washington again struck first and led from start to finish, only giving up one run in the final inning.

Owen Andrews struck out six batters with no earned runs in a complete, seven-inning game.

“Owen went the distance and did a good job,” Kulbeth said. “We had some young arms give us good innings when the game was on the line. It was a pleasant surprise to watch those guys perform like they did.”

Andrews did it at the plate too, going 2-3 with a double and an RBI.

Norman was also 2-3 with an RBI and scored a run.

“We had timely hits and we battled at the plate,” Kulbeth said. “We were fortunate to have batters compete with two strikes and run up guys’ pitch counts.”

Frederick

Washington picked up two District wins against Frederick prior to spring break.

They decimated the Bombers 31-1 and 17-0 in the double header.

The Warriors are 11-1 this season.

They play Sulphur today (Thursday).