Smith smashes Sylvania
- Updated: May 1, 2021
Class 3A: Piedmont senior delivers two homers, 8 RBIs in Game One of Bulldogs’ sweep of Rams; Ohatchee swept by Fyffe
CLASS 3A playoff scores
T.R. Miller 7-11, Thomasville 0-7
Providence Christian 6-7, Hale County 4-3
Bayside Academy 3-4, Trinity Presbyterian 2-5 (Game 3 Saturday)
Opp 11-13, Excel 1-0
Winfield 14-21, JB Pennington 1-0
Piedmont 12-6, Sylvania 6-1
Fyffe 4-6, Ohatchee 2-4
Phil Campbell 3-10, Geraldine 2-0
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
SYLVANIA – Sean Smith enjoyed one of the best days at the plate of his high school career in the first game of Friday’s doubleheader and got Piedmont off to a rousing start in its sweep of Sylvania in the Class 3A baseball playoffs.
The senior first baseman went 4-for-4, hit two home runs and had eight RBIs as the Bulldogs crushed their hosts in Game One 12-1 in six innings. Then they took the nightcap 6-1 to complete the sweep.
The Bulldogs (31-4) will play Winfield (29-11) next weekend in the state quarterfinals riding a 15-game winning streak. Winfield pounded JB Pennington, 14-1 and 21-0.
Smith hit a grand slam in the third inning and a three-run homer in the fifth. He also had an RBI single in the sixth and a double in the second.
“It definitely was an awesome feeling,” Smith said. “I’m just glad we got two wins today and I was able to help out the team.
“I struggled early on in the season and I was just glad to help the team out today. We got two wins and at the end of the day that is all that matters.”
Noah Reedy also homered for the Bulldogs in the opener, hitting a two-run bomb in the sixth. The Bulldogs pounded 10 hits in the game, with Max Hanson and Cassius Fairs collecting two each.
Jadon Calhoun and Fairs held Sylvania to two singles. Calhoun struck out eight in four innings and Fairs pitched two innings of no-hit shutout relief.
The nightcap was a little tighter, but Bulldogs never trailed. They 3-1 after four innings and broke it open with three in the fifth. They collected 10 hits in the game, with Reedy going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Hanson and Jakari Foster picking up two each.
Reedy pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits and striking out six.
“It was a good day for everyone today,” Smith said. “As a team we swung the bat really well and that’s something that we will need to continue to do as we go through this playoff run.
“We all had fun today and that’s what I love about this team. Every day we come to the ballpark, whether it’s practice or a game, and it’s always fun.”
This story will be updated
Game 1
Piedmont 12, Sylvania 1
Piedmont 014 034 – 12 10 0
Sylvania 000 100 – 1 2 1
WP: Jadon Calhoun. LP: Eli Gurley. 2B: Sean Smith (P). HR: Sean Smith 2 (P), Noah Reedy (P).
Game 2
Piedmont 6, Sylvania 1
Sylvania 000 100 1 – 1 7 3
Piedmont 102 030 x – 6 10 1
WP: Noah Reedy. LP: Gavin Chambers. 2B: Preston Holcomb (S), Kennan Wilbanks (S), Jack Hayes (P), Austin Estes (P).
Ohatchee: Fought to the end
OHATCHEE – The Ohatchee Indians were swept out of the Class 3A playoffs by Fyffe in a pair of two-run games but they didn’t go down without a fight.
The Indians got an early three-run deficit down to one before falling 4-2 in the opener and they got the tying run in the scoring position in the seventh inning of the nightcap but couldn’t get it home and ended the winningest season in school history with a 6-4 loss.
“When you talk to Childersburg, talk to Fyffe, talk to other coaches throughout the area, at the end of the day when we get beat or you win the scouting report is ‘they fight and they fight and they fight.’ That’s what they kept doing,” Ohatchee coach Blake Jennings said. “That’s what we are.
“I told their coaches over there that’s what Fyffe is. We went up there six years ago as a coaching staff and watched them work out and (concluded) this is what we’ve got to be. And we’re trying to get there.”
Fyffe scored three runs in first inning of the series and held on. Ohatchee cut it to 3-2 with unearned runs in the third and fifth and it stayed that way until the Red Devils scored again in the seventh.
Fyffe’s Tanner Cowart and Ohatchee’s Konnor Baswell battled on the mound in the opener. Both went the distance. Cowart allowed five hits and struck out nine, including the side in order in the seventh. Baswell gave up eight hits and struck out four.
“Konnor has pitched his freakin’ tail off for the past 35 innings; he’s been one of the best arorund,” Jennings said. “You can’t deny it.”
The Indians (20-11) jumped out in the nightcap with three in the first, highlighted by Carson Tittle’s two-run double. Tittle then went to the mound and hit the first three batters he faced in the bottom of the inning. It looked like the Indians would escape the threat after turning a double play, but Parker Godwin hit a two-run single to make it 3-2.
It stayed that way until the Fyffe took the lead on Will Stephens’ three-run homer in a four-run third.
The Indians cut their deficit to 6-4 on Jake Roberts’ RBI double in the fourth. The Tribe continued to “chase the lion” and with the top of the order coming up in the seventh they got the tying run to second with two outs, but couldn’t get it home and left the bases loaded.
“We had what we wanted,” Jennings said. “We knew their kid (Ike Rowell) only had six or seven pitches left and we get one- or two-pitch at-bats (to extend him) and a strikeout … but with two outs we keep putting stuff together. We’ve been doing it all year.”
During the course of the doubleheader, Fyffe coach Brad Thomas scored his 200th career victory.
Game 1
Fyffe 4, Ohatchee 2
Fyffe 300 000 1 – 4 8 4
Ohatchee 001 010 0 – 2 5 3
WP: Tanner Cowart. LP: Konnor Baswell. 2B: Brody Dalton (F), Konnor Baswell (O). 3B: Ike Rowell (F).
Game 2
Fyffe 6, Ohatchee 4
Ohatchee 300 100 0 – 4 3 1
Fyffe 204 000 x – 6 7 2
WP: Ike Rowell. LP: Jake Roberts 2B: Carson Tittle (O), Jake Roberts (O). HR: Will Stephens (F)
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