Russellville takes game one of area series vs. rival Lawrence County on Tuesday

Relief and pride were head coach Jess Smith’s immediate reactions following the Russellville High School varsity baseball team’s 9-3 win in game one of its three-game series against area rival Lawrence County on Tuesday.

Relief because the Golden Tigers finally got that first area game out of the way—and won, of course. Pride because of his players’ performance and their response after what was, for some of the players, an “unusual” game day.

“It’s just a massive relief, you know? Always leading up to area play it’s nerve racking,” Smith said. “Tensions are high and, you know, (area play) is consequential. Up to this point you basically say (after a loss), well, we’ll learn from it. The message would still be the same if we got beat tonight, but anybody would be lying to you if they said it didn’t feel good to go and get the first one.”

“I’m super proud of (the players). It was a bit of a different day with juniors taking the ACT, our seniors had a real world seminar. In my experience as a head coach your guys can kind of be drained or like zombies on days like that, but we showed up with intensity. I was really, really proud of that.”

A five-run first inning is sure to help relax any pre-game jitters and energize a dugout, and that’s exactly what Russellville got. After starting pitcher Cayden Johns retired the Red Devils in order in the top of the inning, the Golden Tigers took advantage of some erratic pitching and strung together a few hits to punish the visitors early.

“Even though there were some nerves it was good to see our guys throw the first punch, so to speak,” Smith said. “We capitalized on some of their mistakes and had really good at-bats. I know there were some (hit batters) in the first inning, but whenever it was time to hit the ball, we hit it and whenever it was time to take our walks, we took our walks. Some guys had a really good day.”

A walk, a single, and a hit batter quickly loaded the bases before Daniel Askew scored on a passed ball to score the game’s first run. Compounded Lawrence County mistakes then brought in Brandt Cummings before Brodie Vandiver and Brayden Entrekin hit back-to-back RBI singles.

Vandiver and Entrekin were two players Smith acknowledged for their performances in the batter’s box.

"Brodie Vandiver has kind of been struggling at the plate here lately but he got back hot today,” Smith said. “Brayden Entrekin, you know, is an eighth grader. It was his second start, first time in area play…he came up with two big RBIs. I think he’s going to be a special kid.”

Lawrence County got on the board with two runs in the second inning. Johns surrendered a single and a double to lead off the inning, putting the Red Devils in position to knock them in on sacrifice flies to make it 5-2.

Russellville answered back with a run in the bottom half of the inning and then three more in the third. An RBI single by Eli Boutwell scored Neyland Baker in the second inning. In the third, Vandiver scored on an error and Cummings capped the scoring for the Golden Tigers with a two-RBI single up the middle.

Lawrence County tacked on its third and final run in the sixth inning with a home run over the right field wall.

On the bump, Cayden Johns’ night came to a close after the sixth. The righty earned the win and finished the game with five hits and three earned runs allowed, two strikeouts, and two walks. It wasn’t Johns’ best performance of the season, but Smith said he had a solid, reassuring outing.

“Cayden Johns had a good day on the mound. It wasn’t his A-plus stuff, right? But we tell our pitching staff, we don’t judge you off your A-plus performances. We judge you off your B-minus, your C-plus performances. If you can still win on those days, you have arrived as a pitcher,” Smith said. “I thought today was probably Johns’ B-minus, maybe C-plus stuff, but he competed his tail off and that’s huge, especially when it comes to area play. You don’t have to depend on your guys having their best arsenal, so to speak, every game, so it was good to see that from him.”

Ty Engelthaler came in in relief to pitch the final inning. With two outs, Engelthaler found himself in a bases loaded situation but pitched his way out of it without any damage. He ended the game with a strikeout and a fist pump.

“(Engelthaler) was able to limit the damage there and get us out of the game,” Smith said. 

A turned double play would’ve ended the game sooner, but the call was overturned by the home plate umpire. Smith disagreed with the decision but found a silver lining.

“It was good to put him in that situation,” he said. “At this level of baseball and this stage of the season when you’re playing area, no lead is safe. It could be one swing and your back is against the wall. I think that’s going to be a good growing moment for him going forward."

With the win the Golden Tigers improve to 8-6 overall and, more importantly, sit in the driver’s seat heading into the series doubleheader at Lawrence County. Russellville celebrated the victory, but it wasn’t long before Smith and his staff started looking to Thursday’s games. Reviewing the game’s box score, there were two areas Russellville did well in Tuesday Smith wants to see carried over: errors and strikeouts.

The Golden Tigers committed no errors against the Red Devils Tuesday and Smith praised his team’s effort in the field.

“Defensively I thought we did a good job. Daniel Askew had a heck of a night, making plays where he had to put his body on the line. Big time plays in big time moments, it was awesome,” he said. “Not making those plays have killed us in some other games, you know, so it was awesome to see all of them finally making them tonight when it matters most.”

At the dish, Russellville put the ball in play and made the defense work, striking out just three times. Like errors, strikeouts have been a concern for the Golden Tigers at times this season and Smith was glad to see them limited Tuesday night.

“I count one, two, three strikeouts. I would say that’s probably our lowest of the season. I’m super proud of them for doing that, you know, because we’ve got to be on our best offensively.”

In preparation for the next two games, Smith said some focus points will be quality at-bats; defensively, continuing to make clean, routine plays; and on the mound, honing offspeed pitches. Smith said Lawrence County is a good hitting team and he expects to face two good arms next time out. The Golden Tigers know they will be getting Lawrence County’s best shot when they travel to Moulton on Thursday.

“We’ll have our hands full Thursday, no doubt,” Smith said.