Belgreen eliminates Victory Christian to advance to second round of Class 1A playoffs

The Belgreen High School varsity baseball team advanced to the second round of the AHSAA playoffs over the weekend and, for the first time in decades, will have the privilege of hosting a postseason series.

Belgreen (14-12), the Class 1A Area 14 runner-up, traveled to Pell City on Friday and Saturday to take on Victory Christian School, the Area 9 champion, defeating the Lions two games to one to move on to the next round.

“For us to go into their place and win the first game, split (on Friday) and then come back the next day and win the series, it was big for our guys,” Belgreen head coach Nathan Vincent said. “Even with our youth, all the youth that we have, our guys just competed. Everyone, one through nine in the lineup, was just competing.”

Game one eventually belonged to the Bulldogs, but the contest needed nine innings to decide the winner. The game was scoreless through the first five innings, but Victory Christian went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of sixth. This left Belgreen with just three outs to work with in an attempt to tie the ballgame or go ahead—anything to extend the game. The Bulldogs came through in the clutch.

Landon Cox, Belgreen’s leadoff hitter to start the seventh, reached on an error and was moved to third on the next at-bat thanks to a single by Ty Hamilton. A crucially laid bunt by Alex Guidry then scored Cox from third base to tie up the game 1-1. 

“We were down 1-0 after the sixth and for us to come back and tie the ball game up—I think we had a squeeze bunt on the play to tie it up—I think that was big for us,” Vincent said.

The Bulldogs were kept in the game due, in large part, to a stellar pitching performance from Will King. King tossed eight and one-third innings, allowing just two runs off five hits, and striking out seven batters.

“Will was phenomenal. He threw strikes and we made the plays behind him,” Vincent said. “He did an excellent job. It was like last week when we went to Hackleburg and beat Hackleburg at their place. He went into (the Victory Christian) game like he did Hackleburg, with the attitude that no one was going to beat him that day.”

Belgreen won it in the ninth with three runs in the top half of the inning. Back-to-back singles and a few free bases on errors led to King scoring the go-ahead run. Two plays later, another error scored Cox to make it 3-1 before Guidry, after stealing third base, was scratched across on a groundout, making it 4-1. The Lions pulled back a run in the bottom of the inning, but Guidry, coming in in relief, got a strikeout and a groundout to end the game before any more damage was done.

“Those three runs in the top of the inning were huge, and I think it shows the resiliency of this team,” Vincent said. “Even though we’re young, we can still compete anywhere in our lineup.”

Victory Christian evened the series with a win in game two, beating Belgreen 10-6. The Lions scored in every inning, and the Bulldogs were held to just three hits while committing five errors. It just didn’t go Belgreen’s way in game two, but the defeat didn’t deter the visitors, who came back for the decisive rubber match on Saturday confident they could come out on top.

The Bulldogs jumped on top of the Lions early, keeping Victory Christian off the board while scoring five runs through the first three innings. After pushing across a solo run in the second inning—an RBI double by Rush Berryman scored Konner Trapp—the Bulldogs put a four-spot in their following at-bat. Ashton’s RBI single scored King to make it 2-0, and then an error after a bunt by Mitchell scored Ashton from third base. Guidry and Trapp scored the next two runs, making it 5-0, thanks to a wild pitch and a passed ball.

“I think we just played good, fundamental baseball,” Vincent said. “We did several hit-and-runs, several bunts, a few squeezes. That’s been our identity, small ball baseball, and we stuck to it.”

Landon Cox got the start on the mound for the Bulldogs and tossed a complete game, seven innings. He allowed four runs, two earned, off nine hits and struck out four batters.

“We threw Landon Cox in game three and he threw a phenomenal seven innings in 94 pitches, I think,” Vincent said. “A lot like (King in) game one, he threw strikes and we made the plays behind him, just playing fundamental baseball.”

Cox’s four runs allowed were given up in the fourth and fifth innings, cutting Belgreen’s advantage to 5-4, but the guests were able to add two more insurance runs—solo runs scored by Cox and Guidry in the sixth and seventh innings made it 7-4—to close out the pivotal game three a little more comfortably.

“They were pumped up to win, for sure, and I think they were very excited,” Vincent said of his team’s postgame reaction.

By eliminating Victory Christian, the Bulldogs not only got the opportunity for another week of baseball but also ended one of their long postseason droughts.

“I think it’s the first time since 1990, so 34 years since the last time Belgreen has hosted a playoff series,” Vincent said. “I think that was in the back of (the players’) heads. They wanted to host, they wanted to get people to come out to Belgreen to support them and show everyone what they’re capable of.”

Belgreen will have the luxury of home field advantage in round two, but the team coming into town will be no pushover. Appalachian, the top-ranked team in Class 1A according to the Alabama Sports Writers Association poll, will be vying to send the Bulldogs out of the tournament once again. A familiar postseason nemesis for Belgreen, Appalachian has ended Belgreen’s season the last two years, so Vincent knows what his squad will be up against.

“They’re the No. 1 team in 1A, so they’re going to be good and they’re well coached,” Vincent said. “Our biggest thing is we’re just going to have to make the plays, throw strikes, and just keep being who we are.”