Cubs have ‘a good day’
- Updated: March 24, 2021
West spins shutout, Barnes delivers clutch hit to give Alexandria sweep; J’ville’s Salmon blanks Donoho, Oxford, White Plains win
WEDNESDAY BASEBALL SCORES
Choccolocco Park Spring Experience
Alexandria 4, Jemison 0
Alexandria 9, Wellborn 8, 8 inns.
Childersburg 6, Donoho 4
Jacksonville 10, Donoho 0
Oxford 10, Mountain Brook 7
White Plains 9, Lincoln 2
By East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – The day started with Austin West pitching a one-hit complete-game shutout and ended with Eli Barnes delivering an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth as Alexandria won two games in the Choccolocco Park Spring Experience Wednesday.
West blanked Jemison 4-0, then Barnes’ clutch hit pushed the Valley Cubs past Wellborn 9-8.
Throwing what he called “probably the best game I’ve pitched,” West allowed two base-runners and faced only one batter over the minimum in the opener. The only runners he allowed were a two-out single in the third and a leadoff error in the seventh, a runner he later picked off for the second out of the inning.
He retired the first eight batters he faced, gave up the hit, then set down the next 10 in a row. He threw 67 pitches in seven innings (53 for strikes) and struck out six. He went to three balls on only two hitters and retired them both.
“I just went out there and tried to throw strikes the best I could and the defense played well behind me and we had a good game,” West said. “Every guy made the plays look easy and it helped me with confidence on the mound knowing I could throw it down the middle and if they hit it, I’ve got them backing me up.
“My arm felt pretty good throughout the whole game. I was just trying to take it one batter at a time and get three outs and then go out and do the same thing the next inning. Today was just a good day.”
It turned out to be even better when Barnes delivered his big hit in the nightcap.
After building an early lead, the Valley Cubs rallied from deficits of 5-4 and 8-6 to tie it with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Barnes’ sacrifice fly made it 8-7 and Aaron Johnson’s RBI single tied the game.
The Panthers got two runners on with one out in the eighth, but couldn’t get one around. Ian Cartwright got Alexandria’s winning rally started when he reached on a two-base error with one and rode home on Barnes’ single to center.
“It felt good knowing we had that chance to battle and get through that game and we did it,” West said. “Wellborn was hitting the ball all day and we just kept battling and coming back and winning innings. In the eighth we knew we had to get runners on and we did and Eli Barnes had a great hit for us.”
West and Sam Wade both went 3-for-5 for the Valley Cubs. Cartwright and Zac Baskins each had two hits, while Barnes and Johnson each had two RBIs.
Brayden Dempsey went 4-for-5 with three RBIs for Wellborn. Beau Neely had two hits and two RBIs and Kaden Goodwin had two hits.
Oxford 10, Mountain Brook 7: Peyton Watts’ two-out bases-loaded two-run single snapped a 6-6 tie in the third inning and gave the Yellow Jackets (18-4) the lead for good. The Jackets put the rally together after Mountain Brook’s Grayson Long struck out the first two batters of the inning.
Watts and Hayes Harrison both went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Trey Higgins had three hits, including solo homer in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 10-6.
Jacksonville 10, Donoho 0: Will Greenwood had two hits and four RBIs and Nick Salmon scattered three hits in a five-inning shutout and struck out nine.
Greenwood singled home the first two runs of the game in the second and hit a two-run single in the Golden Eagles’ five-run third.
Salmon, meanwhile, set down the Falcons on 63 pitches. He faced two batters over the minimum. At one point he struck out five in a row.
“It was a great team effort,” Salmon said. “I had all my pitches working and Coleman (Oliver) called a great game behind the plate to keep them off balance.
“I’ve got to give my teammates a lot of credit for hitting the ball well and playing solid defense.”
It was the Golden Eagles’ sixth straight victory and second straight shutout. Their pitchers have given up six hits and struck out 15 in their two last games (12 innings).
White Plains 9, Lincoln 2: Miles Austin ripped a three-run double in the Wildcats’ five-run third inning that broke open the game, Jackson Arnold drove in four runs and Jaden Chatman allowed one earned run in 6 1/3 innings. Carson Wright scored four runs.
Childersburg 6, Donoho 4: The Falcons scored four runs in the sixth inning to get within a run, but Childersburg scored an insurance run in the bottom of the inning and turned them back in the seventh to win.
Slade Haney hit a two-run double and Tyler Allen a two-run single in back-to-back at-bats to get the Falcons within 5-4. The Falcons had runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh, but couldn’t get them in.
Cover photo by B.J. Franklin
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