Holding on
- Updated: February 22, 2020
Piedmont, Pleasant Valley open big early leads on Alexandria, Ohatchee, then slam the door on seventh-inning rallies
Saturday baseball scores
Alexandria 10, Ranburne 2
Faith Christian 17, Cornerstone 0
Oxford 11, Vincent 0
Piedmont 7, Alexandria 5
Piedmont 12, Ranburne 2
Pleasant Valley 10, Lincoln 2
Pleasant Valley 6, Ohatchee 5
Shelby County 8, Oxford 5
White Plains 13, Weaver 3
Woodland 21, Faith Christian 9
Woodland 12, Cornerstone 2
Randolph County at Wellborn
Cherokee County at Southside
Ohatchee vs. Lincoln at Pleasant Valley
Cherokee County vs. Pinson Valley at Southside
By East Alabama Sports Today
PIEDMONT – Piedmont jumped out to a big early lead against Alexandria, but as could be expected in a battle between two of the county’s best teams, the game was far from over.
The Bulldogs opened a seven-run lead after three innings, but the Valley Cubs chipped away and threatened to steal the game in the seventh before Piedmont held them off for a 7-5 win.
Piedmont led 7-0 after three innings. Sean Smith singled home a run in the first, Austin Estes and Brant Deerman drove in runs in the second, a bases-loaded hit batsman and a three-run error on Estes’ grounder brought home four runs in the third. Alexandria got a run in the fourth and RBI singles by Ben McNew and Jacob McCulley in the sixth to make it 7-3.
The Valley Cubs loaded the bases in the seventh with two hit batsmen and a walk. Another hit batsman and Mitch Welch’s RBI single made it 7-5 and kept the bases loaded with no outs. Deerman, who came in to face Welch, got out of the jam with two strikeouts and a game-ending grounder to second.
Both teams beat Ranburne in their other games of the tripleheader. Alexandria won 10-2 and Piedmont won 12-2.
Mitch Welch had two hits and three RBIs in Alexandria’s game, Connor Norris had two hits and Austin West scored three runs. Dylan DiGangi pitched four shutout innings for the win, giving up two hits and striking out six.
In Piedmont’s game, Ethan Swinford had three hits, Smith had three RBIs and Silas Thompson went 2-for-4 with a two-run double in the Bulldogs’ five-run first.
Ranburne 020 000 — 2 3 3
Piedmont 500 142 – 12 9 2
Ranburne 000 010 0 – 2 7 5
Alexandria 131 105 x – 10 9 1
Alexandria 000 102 2 – 5 5 1
Piedmont 124 000 x – 7 8 0
Pleasant Valley 6, Ohatchee 5
Pleasant Valley 10, Lincoln 2
JACKSONVILLE – Dalton Page’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning gave Pleasant Valley a 5-0 lead on Ohatchee, then the Raiders held on as the Indians closed the gap in the seventh before ending the game with an out on the base paths.
PV starter Jackson Almaroad pitched five innings of one-hit shutout ball, striking out nine, before the Indians erupted against the Raiders’ bullpen. PV’s starters have given up only two earned runs and struck out 23 in 15 innings this season.
Ohatchee scored three in the sixth to make it 5-3. Dalton McElroy’s sacrifice fly (and third RBI of the game) got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning.
The Indians loaded the bases in the seventh with one out. Konnor Baswell’s single made it 6-4 and kept the bases loaded. Wesley Ogle’s sacrifice fly made it 6-5 and the game ended when Devin Howell was caught stealing third.
The Raiders took control of the Lincoln game with seven runs in the second inning. McElroy had two hits and two RBIs, while Brody Phillips and Braydon Maye each had two hits. McElroy pitched the first six innings, giving up three hits and striking out six, for the win.
Ohatchee 000 003 2 – 5 7 1
Pleasant Valley 003 021 x – 6 6 2
Lincoln 000 010 1 – 2 3 2
Pleasant Valley 072 001 x – 10 9 1
Shelby County 8, Oxford 5
Oxford 11, Vincent 0
COLUMBIANA – Nick Hamlin pitched a five-inning one-hitter against Vincent to help Oxford gain a split of the day.
In two starts this season (10 innings), Hamlin has given up three hits, one earned run and struck out 13.
He was supported by 14 hits. Dawson Winningham went 3-for-3, Trey Mooney had two hits, Wesley Sparks went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Miguel Mitchell and Wesley Miller drove in two runs apiece. Trey Higgins homered.
In the first game, Shelby County scored five in the second inning and the Jackets couldn’t overcome it. They did get three in the third on two-out RBI singles by Brent Honaker, Wesley Miller and Payton Watts. Wesley Sparks had two hits in the game.
White Plains 13, Weaver 3
Coleman Messer had three hits and Carson Tyree had four RBIs to lead the Wildcats. Ben Rouse had two hits, Will O’Steen had two hits and two RBIs and Hayden Williams drove in two runs. Tyler Daniel pitched the first four innings, giving up two hits and no earned runs, to get the win. Daniel also tripled home the tying run in White Plains’ four-run home first.
Weaver 102 00 – 3 3 3
White Plains 431 41 – 13 10 4
Woodland 21, Faith Christian 9
Woodland 12, Cornerstone 2
Faith Christian 17, Cornerstone 0
After getting shut out the day before at Wellborn, Woodland’s bats came alive with 33 runs, 27 hits and five home runs in beating Faith Christian and Cornerstone Christian.
Leadoff man Dalton Bolan went 7-for-9 with two homers and five RBIs in the doubleheader; he was 5-for-5 with both homers against Faith. Eli Rollins hit a first-inning grand slam against the Lions and Benji Whitmore went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and three RBIs. Ethan Copeland drove in three runs in each game, homering against Cornerstone.
The Lions salvaged a split with their win over Cornerstone. Josh Rutledge drove in five runs and hit one of their four homers in the game. Brodie Dodson, Chase Gibbins and Colton Pahman also homered. The first three hitters in Faith’s lineup – Dodson, Stone Huie and Pahman – were a combined 7-for-11 with seven RBIs in the Woodland game.
At 3-1, the Lions have surpassed last year’s win total and have equaled their total of the previous two seasons combined.
Woodland 526 215 – 21 19 1
Faith Christian 130 050 – 9 10 0
Cornerstone 200 00 – 2 2 2
Woodland 470 1x – 12 9 0
Cornerstone 000 0 – 0 1 0
Faith Christian 575 x – 17 14 0
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