Titans cap solid week with shutout against Shawnee

By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon

Carl Albert’s baseball team capped a busy week Friday with a shutout against Shawnee.

The Titans (13-1) took charge early and never looked back in an 8-0 victory at home.

Declan Murphy kept the Wolves’ bats quiet as he threw a two-hit shutout. Murphy finished with eight strikeouts and no walks in five innings.
Mason Trotter homered, and Hutch Russell went 2 for 3 at the plate with a pair of doubles and three RBIs.

Carl Albert led 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Mason Novotny singled and later stole home for the first run. Russell followed with a two-run double making it a 3-0 margin.
Trotter added a two-run blast in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.

The Titans rounded out the scoring with three more in the fifth. Tanner Norman, Russell and Brodie Hinson each drove in a run with three straight hits for the run-rule victory.
It was the team’s sixth straight win and fourth of the week.

On Thursday night, the Titans doubled up Jones at home.

The Longhorns grabbed the lead in the top of the fifth inning with a five-run rally. Carl Albert answered with seven runs in the bottom of the inning and added four more in the sixth for the 16-8 victory.

Russell kicked off the Titans’ rally with a two-run homer to tie the game at 7. Novotny kept it going when he cleared the bases with a two-out, three-run triple, giving the Titans a 10-7 lead. Samuel Gonzalez added an RBI double and later scored on a wild pitch for a 12-7 lead.

Carl Albert tagged four more runs in the sixth. Kash Ferris and Norman each drove in a run, and two more runs scored on a wild pitch and passed ball.
Easton Harless and Russell homered. Norman was 4 for 5 with three doubles and two RBIs. Novotny, Russell and Hinson had two hits apiece.

Jackson Fixico started the game on the mound. Trotter threw the final 1 1/3 innings.

Carl Albert also picked up a pair of district wins against Mid-Del rival Del City.

Ferris threw a no-hitter in a 7-0 win on March 27. The junior finished with 18 strikeouts and one walk in the win.

Hinson led the way for the Titan offense with a home run and two RBIs. Chase Lashley was 3 for 3 with an RBI.

It was more of the same the next night as the Titans cruised to an 18-2 win over the Eagles.

Norman hit a grand slam in the third inning. Novotny, Gonzalez and Harless each had two hits in the win.

Gonzalez was the winning pitcher. He allowed two runs on one hit and two walks, and struck out seven in four innings of work. Russell pitched the final inning.

Del City scored one run in the third and fourth innings. Blake Barker scored off an error in the third and Dustin Tooker hit an RBI double in the fourth for the Eagles.

Carl Albert returned to district play early this week with back-to-back games against El Reno. They will co-host the Bill Tipton Classic Thursday through Saturday. Games will also be played at Midwest City and Shawnee high schools.

On Thursday, the Titans will face Putnam City North at 10 a.m. and Stillwater at 5:30 p.m. They will host Putnam City at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The final placement games will be Saturday.