Cubs, Bulldogs get it done
- Updated: March 24, 2015
Beach trip starts well for county baseball teams
By East Alabama Sports Today
GULF SHORES – Justin Whitley got through one shaky inning to pitch a complete game for his sixth win of the season and Will Reaves knocked in the go-ahead run with a fielder’s choice as fourth-ranked Alexandria edged Smiths Station 5-3 on the first day of the Gulf Coast Classic baseball tournament.
Whitley gave up four of the seven hits he allowed in the fifth inning as Smiths Station scored three runs to tie the game. Valley Cubs coach Andy Shaw had Cody Dodd warming in the bullpen, but Whitley got through it and had an easy sixth to remain in the game.
The Valley Cubs scored single runs in each of their last five bats in the game. They scored their first two runs on passed balls and Jake Heathcock drove in runs in the fourth and the sixth innings.
Piedmont 12, Montgomery Academy 4
Bayley Blanchard had an inside-the-park home run among his three hits and Easton Kirk drove in four runs, but the thing that impressed Bulldogs coach James Blanchard most is his team bounced back from giving up a big inning.
Montgomery Academy scored all its runs – unearned — in the third with one hit and four errors to tie the game 4-4, but the Bulldogs came right back in the top of the fourth to score five runs and finally seize control.
“That’s what I’ve been needing,” Blanchard said. “We’ve done this same ol’ song and dance all year … We planned this trip so the team could bond. We came together as a team today.”
The Bulldogs started their rally with some small ball — a single and a sacrifice — then strung together three hits and an error to develop their big inning.
Starting pitcher Peyton Whitten also had three hits in the game. The first three hitters in Piedmont’s lineup – Whitten, Blanchard and Kirk — went a combined 8-for-13 with eight runs and seven RBIs.
MONDAY’S BASEBALL LINESCORES
Alexandria 5, Smiths Station 3
Smiths Station 000 030 0 — 3 7 0
Alexandria 011 111 x — 5 5 0
JUSTIN WHITLEY and Derrik Turner; BLAKE RIVERA, Austin Porter (6) and Hunter Woodall. 2B: Dalton Cobb (A). 3B: Chance Williams (A). WP: Whitley (6-0). LP: Rivera.
Piedmont 12, Montgomery Academy 4
Piedmont 130 530 0 — 12 12 5
Montgomery Acad. 004 000 0 — 4 5 2
PAYTON WHITTEN, Tyler Lusk (4) and Easton Kirk; ANDREW BELL, Andreades Thomas (4), George Norrell (5), Jacob Johns (6) and Tucker Little. HR: Bayley Blanchard (P). WP: Whitten. LP: Bell.
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