making a move

William Carey found a spark over the weekend, perhaps just in the nick of time. The Crusaders swept a three-game series with Spring Hill to move to 23-21 overall and 6-9 in the highly competitive Southern States Athletic Conference. (The SSAC has six teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25, including No. 1 Lee.) Carey, battling to make the postseason tournament in its first SSAC season, is currently fourth in the West Division, trailing Auburn-Montgomery (16-2), Faulkner (10-4) and Belhaven (9-6). The Crusaders play a three-game set against rival Belhaven, which is ranked 24th, next weekend at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium. Carey’s Scotty Reese, a Terry native, threw a seven-hit shutout at Spring Hill on Friday, and the Crusaders erupted for 26 hits and 21 runs in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep. Quin Stokes, from Walnut Grove, drove in three runs in the opener and belted a grand slam in Game 2, one of three Carey bombs in that contest.