Top seeds reach finals
- Updated: March 7, 2016
Alexandria, Oxford reach title game for second year in a row after one-sided victories in the semifinals
Piedmont shortstop Bayley Blanchard (L) does all he can to keep Alexandria’s Riley Shaw from reaching the base on this attempted steal in the second inning Monday. Riley was out to end the inning.
(Photo by B.J. Franklin)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — It took the county baseball coaches all of about 10 minutes to seed the Calhoun County Baseball Tournament last week.
It doesn’t take long when they know how things are going to turn out.
Their top two seeds made it back into the championship game after top-seeded Oxford and No. 2 Alexandria scored easy victories in the semifinals in front of an estimated crowd of 500 at Henry Farm Park Monday night.
The Yellow Jackets topped upstart No. 5 Ohatchee 13-3 and the Valley Cubs took out No. 3 Piedmont 11-2.
The winners meet for the title — a rematch of last year’s championship game — here Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Will Reaves will draw the start for Alexandria while Andy Hammond will take the mound for Oxford.
“It feels good,” Cubs shortstop Griff Carroll said. “We’ve worked hard at the beginning of the year in order to get back to the championship game and face Oxford again and see if we can pull it off like we did last year.”
Of course, the Yellow Jackets (7-3) had to do their part after the Valley Cubs won the first semifinal and with Dillen Miller on the mound it was easy.
Miller struck out 15, including the side in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The last 10 outs he got came via the strikeout.
“I just went out there and pitched; I just trusted myself and just threw,” Miller said. “It was just fun. I was having a good time. All my teammates were behind me. It was a good atmosphere.”
Miller was a little spotty early, perhaps owing to a rushed routine, but he got stronger as the game wore on; the bigger the lead, the more dominant he became. Ohatchee scored a run in the top of the first, but Oxford answered with four in the home half and continued to pour it on.
“Sometimes three, sometimes four pitches are working for him; tonight, early in the game, it was just his fastball and curveball,” Jackets coach Wes Brooks said. “His best pitch is the changeup, but we actually only threw two of them tonight; once we all figured out what his best two pitches were that’s pretty much what we stuck with.
“He got behind some, but he is probably the best pitcher in the state behind in the count against an aggressive team. He’s confident that he can throw any pitch in any count. Typically I have a short leash on guys who are all over the place early in the game, but with him I know he’s OK going 2-0 on somebody.”
He got a lot of support. Nathan Lloyd, Chance Adams and Derek Miller all had two hits. Adams, Trey Hopper and Miller — the last three hitters in the lineup — all drove in two runs. They had six batters hit by pitch and five of them eventually scored.
“Sometimes, whoever’s in the final, if you’re there two or three times … you kind of have that expectation that you’re going to,” Brooks said. “I think with our County Tournament, being so early in the year, I think that’s what a lot of people base it off of, like Alexandria and Oxford were 1-2 last year, let’s just rank them 1-2 this year.”
The first game was an anticipated pitching duel between Alexandria’s Cody Dodd and Piedmont left-hander Taylor Hayes, but some loose play in the field kept it from being so.
Piedmont didn’t give up a run in its first two tournament games, but three misplays in the infield, a well-placed walk and a couple doubles led to five Alexandria runs in the second inning. The Valley Cubs added three more in the fourth for an 8-0 lead.
“We got some situations where people executed their jobs,” Alexandria coach Andy Shaw said. “Good things happen when you do that.”
Carroll had two-run singles in each of his last two at-bats to help extend the Cubs’ lead. Dodd had two hits and Zac Stevens had a bases-loaded two-run double in the big second inning.
“We always preach to them at-bats should get better as the game goes on, and his did,” Shaw said. “That’s tells you something about a hitter right there.”
Alexandria 11, Piedmont 2
Piedmont 000 011 0 — 2 6 7
Alexandria 050 303 x — 11 8 2
WP: Cody Dodd. LP: Taylor Hayes. 2B: Easton Kirk (P), Cody Dodd (A), Zach Stephens (A).
Oxford 13, Ohatchee 3
Ohatchee 100 020 — 3 4 1
Oxford 414 004 — 13 9 0
WP: Dillen Miller. LP: Blayde Crump.
Alexandria first baseman Jake Woodward is poised to take a throw as a Piedmont runner slides back into the bag during Monday’s Calhoun County Tournament semifinals. On the cover, Cubs ace Cody Dodd warms up in the bullpen before facing Piedmont. (Photos by B.J. Franklin)
CALHOUN COUNTY BASEBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
March 4
(9) Wellborn 12, (8) Saks 10
(5) Ohatchee 14, (12) Donoho 1
(4) Jacksonville 11, (13) Faith 1
(3) Piedmont 14, (14) Anniston 0
(6) Weaver 2, (11) JCA 0
(10) Pleasant Valley 4, (7) White Plains 3
March 5 (at Henry Farm Park)
Ohatchee 3, Jacksonville 2
Piedmont 10, Weaver 0
(2) Alexandria 8, Pleasant Valley 0
(1) Oxford 10, Wellborn 0
March 7 (at Henry Farm Park)
Alexandria 11, Piedmont 2
Oxford 13, Ohatchee 3
March 8 (at Henry Farm Park)
Championship game
Oxford vs. Alexandria, 5:30 p.m.
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