Local baseball roundup, March 30-April 4: Phil Campbell, Red Bay impressive in area opening sweeps
Here’s a look at the Spring Break baseball action from teams around Franklin County:
Tuesday, March 31
Addison 9, Belgreen 1
Phil Campbell 13, Hackleburg 8
Red Bay 8, Lamar County 0
Led by an outstanding performance from pitcher Carson McGee, who allowed just two hits and struck out nine batters over seven full innings, the Red Bay Tigers shutout area foe Lamar County in the first game of the midweek doubleheader. RBHS sandwiched solo run innings between three-run innings in the third and sixth innings to give the Tigers their eight runs. Senior shortstop Jeremiah Thorne, who hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Tigers an initial 2-0 advantage, led the offensive effort, going 2-for-3 at the dish with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Red Bay 1, Lamar County 0
Red Bay completed the area sweep of the Bulldogs thanks to another (even more) superb pitching performance, this one by senior Jeremiah Thorne who tossed a complete game no-hitter. Thorne, who struck out nine batters and didn’t allow a walk over seven innings, was just one baserunner shy of pitching a perfect game. (A dropped third strike/passed ball allowed one Bulldog to get on base in the bottom of the sixth.) But as impressive as Thorne’s outing was, his counterpart in the other dugout, R Brown, was nearly as impressive, striking out 18 batters and allowing just one hit, making for a true pitching duel. Red Bay ultimately won the game on its one hit, an RBI double by Carson McGee in the top of the fourth that scored Thorne, who reached base on a dropped third strike. The sweep of Lamar County in its opening area series improved RBHS to 12-4; the Tigers would finish the week with a 12-5 record.
Russellville 6, Scottsboro 0
An impressive outing from Ty Engelthaler, who pitched seven scoreless inning and allowed just two hits, got the Golden Tigers back on the right track early in the week after a 10-0 defeat to Briarwood Christian in their previous game. Engelthaler, who finished with seven strikeouts, was backed up by his team’s offensive effort. Russellville, finishing the game with eight hits, opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom third. After a leadoff triple by Tripp Cleveland, Cleveland came in to score in the next at-bat thanks to a passed ball. A couple of batters later, a deep pop out allowed Houston Askew to tag up from third and score. RHS went on to score two more runs in the fourth and two in the fifth. Two passed balls in the fourth brought in two runs before back-to-back RBI singles by Tristan Ray and Luke Greenhill plated Russellville’s final two runs of the game.
Thursday, April 2
Lynn 12, Belgreen 11
Phil Campbell 11, Colbert County 1
Tharptown 23, Cherokee 2
Tharptown grabbed its fifth win of the season with a blowout win over Cherokee that took just four innings. Helped largely by six Cherokee errors, the Wildcats also saw huge performances from the likes of Christopher Fretwell, who was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored and a game-high five RBIs. First baseman Christgin Willoughby came around to score a game-high four runs and 10 of the 11 Wildcats to make a plate appearance in the game contributed to the scoreline with either a run scored or an RBI. Five different pitchers contributed in the Tharptown win, but it was Randy Holliman who was credited with the win after striking out two batters in one inning pitched. The Wildcats finished the week with a 5-11 overall record.
Friday, April 3
Lindsay Lane 12, Belgreen 0
Phil Campbell 18, Colbert County 3
After falling behind 3-0 after the first two innings, Phil Campbell finished strong, plating all 18 runs in the fifth and sixth innings to end the contest early. After coming up dry in the first four innings, the Bobcat bats came alive in the fifth inning which ended in PCHS taking a 5-3 advantage. Bentley Morgan got things going with an RBI single to score Miles Duboise; a few walks later, Isaac Duboise was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded—that made it 3-2, CCHS. The go-ahead moment came in the next at-bat when Shooter Motes’ double to right field scored Jack Owens and Hagen Raper to make it 4-3. A later RBI single by Reed Jackson capped the Bobcats’ scoring in the inning. An explosive sixth inning then finished off the hosts: Owens, Raper, Motes, Sage Morgan, Jackson, Miles Duboise, and Eli Tyra all had at least one RBI hit in the inning as the Bobcats batted around and ultimately pushed 13 across on the Indians. On paper, Motes had the best day going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored, but in total 11 of the 13 Bobcats who made appearances contributed to the scoreline. On the mound, Jack Owens, who came in in relief of starter Chandler Benford in the second inning, received the win. Owens pitched four and a third scoreless innings and allowed just two hits while striking out 10 batters.
Phil Campbell 13, Colbert County 0
Phil Campbell started the second game of the doubleheader against Colbert County how it ended the first: strong. The Bobcats took an early 2-0 lead and added solo runs in the second and third innings before finishing CCHS off in the fifth by plating nine more. After taking the lead, Phil Campbell never really needed to worry about the Indians catching up; Sage Morgan, who got the start, and Eli Tyra combined to pitch a one-hitter through five innings. Morgan, who tossed the first three innings, didn’t allow a hit, walked two and struck out five; Tyra, who finished out the last two innings, allowed one hit and struck out two batters. At the plate, shortstop Hagen Raper and catcher Reed Jackson both had two RBIs, Raper and Bentley Morgan both scored two runs, and three Bobcats had multi-hit games. The three-game sweep of Colbert County improved Phil Campbell’s overall record to 16-8.
Tupelo Christian 2, Red Bay 1
Russellville 7, Austin 2
Saturday, April 4
Russellville 15, Arab 1
Russellville 9, Madison County 2
Led by the scorching hot bat of Brayden Entrekin, Russellville toppled Madison County comfortably to complete a perfect week and extend the Golden Tigers’ winning streak to four games. A two-run home run by Madison County in the top of the first put RHS behind early, but the Golden Tigers responded immediately with a four-run bottom half. A walk and a double by Entrekin set up a two-run single by Brayden Hatton to cut the deficit in half, 2-1. A couple at-bats later, Luke Greenhill’s sac fly to score Entrekin tied the game up; it was followed by a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Hawkins that scored pinch runner Darron Jones. Tripp Cleveland completed the damage in the first with an RBI single that scored Houston Askew and made it 4-2, RHS. In the second inning, Entrekin, who was coming off a two-home run, five-RBI performance in the day’s first win over Arab, hit his third homer of the day, a two-run bomb, to make it 6-2. Entrekin finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Caleb Hawkins, who also had an impressive four-RBI performance in the Arab game, added a two-run homer of his own in the third inning to make it 8-2 before a Tripp Cleveland RBI double in the fifth closed out the scoring. On the mound, Brayden Hatton got the start and was rewarded with win after tossing five innings in which he allowed two earned runs off four hits. Cleveland came in in relief and struck out four batters over two hitless innings. Russellville’s 4-0 week pulls the Golden Tigers to one game under .500 with a 12-13 record.