Dawson helps Opelika stay perfect

Luke Brietzke
For the Opelika-Auburn News
Published: March 10, 2008

Opelika pitcher Chase Dawson said he didn’t have any of his pitches working during Monday’s 11-3 win over Shaw (Ga.).

What drew a smile to the southpaw’s face, ironically, was talk about his offense.

Dawson went 4-for-4 with two doubles during his complete-game victory, extending his consecutive hit streak to seven at-bats. Dawson’s courtesy runner, Trace Pridgen, also scored three runs.

“I’m just seeing the ball good and attacking what I get,” Dawson said.

Dawson didn’t pitch poorly, either. He scattered seven hits and made one mistake — which Cain Fuller deposited for a two-run home run in the fifth inning when Opelika (13-0) was already leading, 7-1.

After using several pitchers to work through a busy weekend, Bulldogs coach Barry Hightower was happy Dawson found a way to battle to a complete game.

“He went out and did what he had to do,” said Hightower, who also said he might have to find a way to keep Dawson’s bat in the lineup. “He was kind of in survival mode — get the ball up there and create contact so we could make plays for him. I thought our guys did a good job making plays.”

Shaw (2-1) was still in the game, trailing 7-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

Opelika loaded the bases for Mike Love with two outs and Shaw coach Mike Getkin brought in Dustin Averett to pitch to Love.

Averett, a hard-throwing right-hander, was a change of pace from the more control-type, breaking ball pitchers Opelika had seen earlier in the game and Averett pumped two fastballs past Love to quickly get ahead in the count.

That’s when Love made an adjustment.

“I didn’t really know how to approach it when he first came in,” Love said. “He was throwing pretty good. I got in my two-strike stance and got up
on the plate a little bit. I was expecting the fastball, but I was ready for him to try to bust me with a curveball.“

Love got a fastball on the 1-2 count and smoked it down the first-base line for a two-run double.

Love finished the game 2-for-2 with four RBI and effectively put the game away with that double.

While the Bulldogs scored 11 runs, Love’s fifth-inning double was one of the few big hits the team had. Opelika found ways to earn bases and played an advantageous brand of baseball to scratch across five unearned runs.

The Bulldogs also scored four runs in the third inning, while hitting the ball out of the infield just once.

“That four-run (third) inning was the difference in the game,” Getkin said.

Hightower said it was critical for the Bulldogs to produce some cheap runs Monday.

“When you’re not hitting, you’ve got to find a way to be able to score runs somehow,” Hightower said. “These guys do a decent job of getting guys around and moving them around the bases.”

Brooks Robinson went 3-for-5, scored two runs and stole a base for Opelika.