see how they run
Expect the Belhaven Blazers to kick up a lot of dust during this week’s NAIA opening round tournament. Well, they won’t actually be kicking up dust because Smith-Wills Stadium has an artificial surface — but the Blazers’ feet will be flying. That’s their game. The team has stolen 194 bases in racking up 40 wins. Five BU players have swiped double-figure totals. Reagan Rutledge has 59 bags (in 63 attempts), Paul Pickerrell 35, Emilio DeSilva 33, Dominick Francia 26 and Tyler Akins 11. This is not a team of mashers. Akins, the former Madison Central High and Hinds Community College star, leads the club with four home runs. Homers are hard to hit at Smith-Wills, especially with today’s bats. Stealing bases helped BU win 31 of 35 games there. Of course, you need some pitching depth, as well, to have postseason success, and the Blazers have a nice stable of arms. Boomer Scarborough, the Southern Miss transfer, won nine games with a 3.55 ERA. Preseason All-America pick Chris Good went 4-2, 3.73 and Ben Allison 6-0, 2.32. Austin McCann has a 1.98 ERA in 32 relief appearances, and Akins has notched a school record 17 saves. BU will try to dash past Oklahoma City today at 2:30. Oklahoma Wesleyan, which will play in today’s third game, is the top seed in the five-team regional.