First-year baseball coach Andy Yanzetich congratulated his senior players after First Presbyterian Christian Academy closed the season Wednesday with a 3-1 win over Coastal Home School at St. James Field.
Bowing out were seniors Richard Lovelady, DeShaun Collins, Morgan Crean and Matt Lormis. Also honored during the pre-game ceremony was foreign-exchange student Barni Horvath.
“Barni Horvath never played the game before,” Yanzetich said. “Not only did he learn the game, he learned how to keep the stats and maintained our scorebook for the season.”
The Highlanders held a 3-0 lead until the top of the fifth inning, when the Hurricanes scored. FPCA’s pitchers did the rest by holding the visiting team back. Lovelady pitched four innings for the win, striking out 10 and walking five. Phillip Swindell picked up the save, tossing three strikeouts.
Collins was 1 for 3 with a run scored, and Jake Lee was 1 for 3 with a triple and one RBI.
Yanzetich said the team didn’t make the playoffs this season, but some of his players accomplished greater things. Collins and Lovelady signed scholarships to play baseball at St. Andrews University and East Georgia State College, respectively. The duo also was named to the Georgia Independent School Association Class 2-AA All-Region Team.
Lormis was Class 2-AA All-Region honorable mention and will attend Liberty University and.
Crean plans to attend Georgia Gwinnett College and try out for the baseball team.
Swindell, a junior, also was named to the 2-AA All-Region Team.