No. 6 Red Bay clinches first round playoff series with win in game three vs. Westminster-Oak Mountain
After splitting the first two games of its first round playoff series against Westminster-Oak Mountain (13-11) on Thursday, April 23, the Red Bay High School varsity baseball team (21-6), ranked No. 6 in the final Alabama Sports Writers Association poll of the season, came back the following day to claim game three and advance to the second round of the AHSAA Class 2A playoffs.
On Thursday, the Tigers won game one 5-2 but dropped the nightcap by a score of 4-0.
In the opening game, Westminster drew first blood in the top of the first inning, but Red Bay responded to take the lead and add insurance runs as the game went on.
Down 1-0 in the home half of the first, the Tigers, after a single by Jeremiah Thorne and sacrifice bunt by Jaxson Swann, were able to level the game 1-1 on a passed ball that scored Thorne from third base. Later in the inning, with runners on the corners, an Ayden Pruitt sacrifice fly to center field allowed Cason Collins to tag up and score the go-ahead run.
Red Bay tacked on two more runs in the third inning to make it a 4-1 game. Thorne led off the inning with a solo home run before Swann, who reached on a single, came around to score on a passed ball.
The Tigers scored their fifth and final run of the game in the fourth when S Humphries’ groundout to third allowed Landyn Lewey to reach home plate from third.
Thorne’s, whose home run accounted for his one RBI of the day, finished with a perfect 3-for-3 game at the plate. Lewey also had solid plate appearances, reaching base in two of his three at-bats.
On the mound for the Tigers, Carson McGee pitched a complete game, allowing just the two earned runs off seven hits while striking out nine batters.
The next contest did not go as well for the Tigers, who played the role of the “visitor” in game two. Westminster would go on to win the game 4-0 despite a good outing on the mound from Jeremiah Thorne. Thorne threw six innings, allowing three earned runs off just six hits and struck out eight but was stuck with the loss.
Westminster’s four runs came in the third and fifth innings. The Knights grabbed a solo run in the third on a Red Bay error and then pushed three across in the fifth thanks to a couple of RBI singles.
Red Bay, which was only able to conjure up four hits, could not string those hits together. The Tigers’ best opportunity to score came in the top of the fifth when they had runners on first and second with one out; however, Thorne’s fly ball to center field wasn’t deep enough for Collins to make it to third on the tag up attempt and he was tagged out for the 7-6-5 double play.
With the series tied 1-1, Red Bay and Westminster returned to play the winner-take-all game three on Friday afternoon.
Much like game one, the series finale saw the Tigers take an early lead and add on to it as the game went on.
Red Bay went ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a Westminster error, a sac bunt by Swann that brought in Collins from third base, and an RBI single by McGee. The Tigers would later tack on solo runs in the third and fifth innings on an RBI single by Humphries and a two-out error by the Knights that allowed Lewey to reach home.
Toeing the rubber for Red Bay was Pruitt, who had a fantastic day on the mound. Pruitt allowed just four hits and one unearned run in his complete game performance and ended the day with three strikeouts. Most importantly, he earned the win that allowed his team to reach the second round of the playoffs for the third straight season.
In the upcoming round of 16, Red Bay will travel to Sumiton Christian (11-15). Games one and two of the series will be played on Thursday, April 30 at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. with the if-needed game three to be played May 1 at 2 p.m.