Saturday roundup
- Updated: April 17, 2021
Wellborn baseball puts seniors in spotlight and they deliver; PV softball evens score with Alexandria from county tournament
SATURDAY BASEBALL
Alexandria 9, Calera 7
Pell City 12, Alexandria 3
Wellborn 10-12, Weaver 5-2
By East Alabama Sports Today
Wellborn celebrated its five baseball seniors during the final games of the season Saturday, all five started in the nightcap and all five contributed in a 12-2 win that earned the Panthers a sweep of the doubleheader and their season-ending series with Weaver.
The Panthers won the first game 10-5.
Coach Nick Burns started seniors Kaden Goodwin at first, Will Phillips at short, Colby Boyd in left, Evan Hafley in right and Jett Smith on the mound in the nightcap and all five had a hand in the victory.
Goodwin went 3-for-4 with two RBIs (and 6-for-8 with four RBIs in the doubleheader), Boyd singled home Phillips with the walkoff run, Hafley made a big play in the outfield and got a hit his next time at the plate, and Smith pitched a six-inning complete game with 11 strikeouts (and scored three runs).
“That was great; that’s what baseball’s about,” Burns said. “Those guys have been a staple in our program; they’ve been with us since they were really young. They’re such a tight-knit group. They were just as excited for each other as they were for themselves.”
In the nightcap, Brayden Dempsey went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and JoJo Wyatt went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Freshman Brennan Talley pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts in the opener. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced
Devin Anderson homered for Weaver in the opener and Christian Maturello went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
The sweep gave the Panthers 10 wins for the year, the most in Burns’ four seasons as head coach.
Alexandria 9, Calera 7: The Valley Cubs scored six runs in the sixth inning to take control of the game. Aaron Johnson, Sam Wade, Ian Cartwright and Aiden Brunner all drove in runs in the inning and two scored on a Jake Upton’s fly ball Calera misplayed in the outfield.
The top half of Alexandria’s lineup went a combined 9-for-15 with Johnson, Wade, Cartwright and Tyler Brown all collecting two hits.
SATURDAY SOFTBALL
Alexandria 11, Piedmont 5
Munford 3, Leeds 2
Piedmont 8, Pell City 6
Pleasant Valley 13, Alexandria 1
Pleasant Valley 8, Pell City 2
A week ago when the stakes were higher Alexandria and Pleasant Valley played a late-night classic and the Lady Cubs won in the bottom of the seventh for another county championship.
Pleasant Valley got a measure of revenge Saturday, erupting for 11 hits and getting a milestone gem from Leah Patterson in the circle in a 13-1 five-inning victory. The Lady Raiders also beat Pell City 8-2.
Lily Henry went 3-for-4 with a grand slam in the second inning and four RBIs in the opener, Rylee Haynes went 3-for-3 and Madyson Cromer had five RBIs. Patterson picked up her 20thwin of the season in the game, holding the Lady Cubs to three hits and striking out seven.
Cromer had the big bat in the Pell City game, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs. Cromer and Macey Roper both had two-run singles in the Lady Raiders’ five-run first inning. Cromer also had a two-run double in the fourth.
Alexandria 11, Piedmont 5: Christian Hess broke a 5-5 tie with two-run single in the fourth and the Lady Cubs went on to score four in the inning to take the lead for good. Hess went 2-for-4 with four RBIs.
Clancy Bright and Brie Troup, the hitters on either side of Hess in the lineup, both went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. The bottom four hitters in the lineup were a combined 7-for-14 with nine RBIs.
Grace Epperson hit a three-run homer for Piedmont in the third inning.
Piedmont 8, Pell City 6: Cayla Brothers and Grace Epperson hit back-to-back homers in a four-run third that snapped a 2-2 tie. They both had two hits and combined for five RBIs. Emily Farmer went 3-for-3.
Munford 3, Leeds 2: Lexie Pate and Kylie Rooks both went 2-for-2 and Khloe Shears pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts. Leeds put the tying run in scoring position in the fifth with one out, but Shears ended the threat and the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
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