Facing a double header against Pinecrest Tuesday afternoon, the last thing Scotland's ninth grade baseball team needed was to see one of their top pitchers go down to injury.

Unfortunately for the Scots, that was exactly what happened when standout pitcher Chris Tyndall injured his ankle over the weekend, forcing the team's ace, Logan Weagraff, to try his stamina against a Patriots squad bolstered by recent additions from Pinecrest's junior-varsity team.

The result was Weagraff dominance, as the Scotland freshman pitched nine innings over the course of the back-to-back five inning games, allowing only three runs on the day.

Scotland followed Weagraff's lead in the first of the two games, winning 8-1 on the strength of strong hitting from Casion Murphy (2-for-2, run) and Weagraff (2-for-3), who could do no wrong at the plate as well as on the mound.

"We really got in a bad place, losing our number two pitcher," said Scots head coach David Barnes.

"But Logan has been our ace all year long, and he was today."

Barnes considered starting an off-speed pitcher in the first game, and bringing in Weagraff to finish the afternoon, but thought better of it before the game.

Pinecrest managed seven hits, while striking out seven times and walking once in game one.

In game two, the solid-hitting Tyndall's absence from the batting order was felt as well, as the Scots managed to scrape together only three runs against the Patriots challenging pitching staff.

Those three runs all came after Pinecrest touched up Weagraff for two runs in the first inning of the second game.

"My assistant coach thought he might be getting tired," Barnes commented, but the coaches stuck with Weagraff long enough to see him strike out all three batters he faced in the third inning, and then to see him continue until the he was replaced by Preston Parker, who closed out the game with three K's of his own in the fifth.

Facing a 2-1 deficit heading into the third inning, Jeremy Osteen jump started Scotland with a bunt base hit down the third base line. Murphy followed with a hit of his own, after which a Johnny Mintz base hit tied the game at 2.

With Pinecrest's pitching giving way, Tim Chavis was hit by a pitch, forcing in the Scots' third and decisive run.

"I knew it was going to be a close game, and we tried two different squeeze plays, and neither worked," said Barnes.

"I thought that might haunt us, but we scratched out three runs, and that was enough."

At 13-1, the Scots are three games clear of South View, and have already locked up first place in their conference heading into their final contest against Purnell Swett on Thursday.