Playing for something
- Updated: March 19, 2021
Ohatchee wins first game after emotional 48 hours, J’ville sweeps White Plains, Calhoun homers in both games of Piedmont sweep and more
FRIDAY’S BASEBALL SCORES
Donoho 10, Wellborn 3
Faith Christian 10, Jacksonville Christian 5
Glencoe 3, Pleasant Valley 1
Jacksonville 5-8, White Plains 2-4
Munford 5, Clay Central 3
Ohatchee 8, Cleburne County 5
Piedmont 22, Falkville 0
Piedmont 10, Colbert County 0
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OHATCHEE – The players and coaches of the Ohatchee baseball team have spent a lot of time this season talking about the things that make a team and being good teammates.
Never has that message been more poignant, never has there been a better time for the Indians to circle the wagons, than the past couple days.
The Indians hadn’t been able to practice for two days because of weather issues and then on Thursday stood outside the county board office for nearly five hours before learning their beloved and distinguished principal – the father of a teammate – was not going to have his contract renewed by the administration for reasons they all still are waiting to receive.
When they got on the field Friday they played like a team that hadn’t been in action in a while. But they rallied with two big innings and then ended the game with a spectacular double play to take an 8-5 victory from Cleburne County.
“We talked all year about coming together and doing what we have to do to become a better team, better teammates,” Indians coach Blake Jennings said. “Something bad happens to our kids, like yesterday, how do we respond to it.
“People say ‘Roll Tribe.’ We’ve got jerseys that say ‘Tribe’ on it. What does that mean?. It’s you fight for one another, go to battle for one another and fight for what you believe in.”
It looked like it was going to be another long day for the Indians early. They fell behind 4-0 and their once-reliable starter was having trouble locating the plate; the Tigers scored their first four runs without benefit of a hit.
They finally came to life in the fifth inning, scoring five runs to take the lead. Trey Pesnell delivered the key hit, a two-out, two-run single that put them ahead.
Cleburne County tied it 5-5 in the top of the sixth, but the Indians responded with three in the bottom of the inning to pull ahead again.
The Indians (10-3) scored two runs on a ball hit into the hole by Carson Tittle, the son of Ohatchee principal Bobby Tittle, to break the tie. Tittle the younger reached base all three times he batted and scored a pair of runs.
Tittle also was in the middle of the game-ending double play. Pesnell played a grounder off the bat of Porter Embry. He had trouble getting the ball out of his glove, but flipped it – glove and all – to Tittle, who tapped second base and turned to complete the double play.
“We were glad to be back playing baseball,” Jennings said.
Jacksonville 5-8, White Plains 2-4: Coleman Oliver had two hits in the opener, including a go-ahead two-run double in the third inning, and drove in three runs in the nightcap as the Golden Eagles swept the doubleheader and their three-game area series. Jacksonville won the first game in White Plains on Tuesday.
White Plains took a 1-0 lead in the second when Carson Tyree tripled and came home on Joshua Ortiz-Lindsey’s grounder to second. Oliver’s double gave Jacksonville a 2-1 lead and he scored later on a wild pitch.
White Plains closed to within 3-2 in the fifth on Duke Barnett’s RBI single, but Jacksonville scored two runs in the bottom of the inning on the pair of errors.
In the nightcap, Jacksonville took a 3-1 lead into the fifth, then pulled away with three runs. Oliver got it going with an RBI single and Shane Stanfield singled home the other two. Oliver and winning pitcher Christian Royster extended the lead with sacrifice flies in the sixth. Royster pitched a complete game, giving up three hits, one earned run and striking out 10.
Jaden Chatman had two of White Plains’ hits – a pair of doubles.
Donoho 10, Wellborn 3: Slade Haney went 4-for-4 with two triples and three RBIs, Nick Thompson went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs, and pitcher Judson Billings ran his consecutive outs by strikeout streak to 22 before it ended on a fielder’s choice in the sixth.
Lucas Elliot and Connor Goodson each had two hits for the Falcons, while Elliott and Billings also had two RBIs. Brayden Dempsey had two hits and two RBIs for Wellborn.
Haney and Blake Willingham held the Panthers to one hit over the first five innings – Beau Neely’s leadoff single – before Billings finished up.
The Panthers scored two runs against Billings, but the Falcons’ pitcher has been a strikeout machine of late. He got his last eight outs two appearances ago by strikeout, got 12 strikeouts in the four innings of his start against JCA and fanned hitters for the first two outs against the Panthers. The string was broken on an inning-ending grounder. He got the first two outs of the seventh on strikeouts and then a game-ending fielder’s choice.
Faith Christian 10, Jacksonville Christian 5: Colton Pahman had three hits, drove in six runs and pitched the first five innings as the Lions completed their area sweep of the Thunder.
Pahman went 3-for-3. He had two-run doubles in the third and fifth and a two-run single in the sixth. Brodie Dodson also went 3-for-3.
Cam Moses hit a three-run homer in the fifth to give JCA the lead before Faith took it back with three in the bottom of the inning.
Piedmont 22, Falkville 0: The Bulldogs sent 19 batters to the plate in a 14-run first inning, Jadon Calhoun hit a three-run homer in the third and Sloan Smith pitched a four-inning two-hitter. Austin Estes had a three-run double in the big inning, while Jack Hayes Smith and Jakari Foster each had two-run singles. The only out among the first 15 hitters of the inning was Hayes’ sacrifice fly.
Piedmont 10, Colbert County 0: Jadon Calhoun homered for the second game in a row and pitched a five-inning complete-game two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts. Calhoun gave up two singles and a walk in the first inning, then allowed only one base runner and faced the minimum the rest of the way with only one ball reaching the outfield. The first four Piedmont hitters of the game and five of its first six all reached safely and scored.
Munford 5, Clay Central 3: Caleb Watts went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs and Tyler Stephens pitched a complete-game five-hitter with six strikeouts for the Lions. Stephens also drove in a run at the plate.
Glencoe 3, Pleasant Valley 1: Nolan Fairley and Brady Kitchens scattered seven hits and held the Raiders scoreless until Caleb Shew singled home Connor George in the seventh inning. Shew and Dalton McElroy each had two hits for Pleasant Valley. Grayson Kellett, Bryant Speer and Kade Crowder had two hits apiece for Glencoe.
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