Thursday baseball roundup
- Updated: March 31, 2016
Oxford beats Hoover then falls in Buccaneer Classic semis; Piedmont gets a getaway split at beach, Alexandria, Weaver fall
Thursday’s results
BASEBALL
Oxford 11, Hoover 4
Moody 8, Oxford 7
Haleyville 15, Piedmont 6
Piedmont 5, Colbert County 3
Muscle Shoals 11, Alexandria 1
Brooks 13, Weaver 3
By East Alabama Sports Today
HOOVER – Oxford avenged a pool play loss to Hoover in a big way in the quarterfinals Thursday morning, then lost a one-run game to Moody in the semifinals of the Buccaneer Classic.
The No. 8 6A Yellow Jackets overran the host team 11-4, and then lost to Moody 8-7 on a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh.
“Going to sleep (Wednesday) night we were not sure if we were going to have a chance to play,” Oxford coach Wes Brooks said. “Then about 10 o’clock they sent out the seeds and I think our guys were kind of fired up we were going to have a rematch with Hoover because of the nine-inning loss (Tuesday), so that was kind of good.
“I thought the biggest thing against Hoover was we did not have one strikeout at the plate and that’s happened since we’ve been keeping some pretty decent offensive category stats the last four years two times. I think that’s a huge identity of our team, they believe in the two-strike approach. … That’s the biggest thing that’s happened all week long.”
Against No. 4 7A Hoover, Trey Hopper had another big game with four RBIs, Austin Bolander had two hits and two RBIs and Caden Higgins had three hits. Hopper had a three-run double in the fifth that broke the game open.
“He was probably overall, as far as defense and RBIs and pitching, one of our most valuable guys throughout the tournament,” Brooks said of Hopper.
The semifinal was a back-and-forth affair with five lead changes. Oxford took a 7-6 lead in the sixth on Brody Syer’s RBI double and Chance Adams’ sacrifice fly.
The Blue Devils retied it in the seventh on Ryan Foster’s RBI single and then won it on Riley Campbell’s two-out single.
Bolander, Syer, Jacob Sears and Brennan McCullough all had two hits for Oxford in the game. Sears drove in three runs and McCullough knocked in two.
Despite falling short of the championship, the Yellow Jackets got a lot done that should help them going forward.
“We got accomplish what we set out to do,” Brooks said. “We saw some pretty decent arms this week. We had faced two No. 1s in about three weeks and we were able to see a couple at the tournament.”
The road doesn’t get any easier. The Jackets are scheduled to play – weather permitting — a doubleheader Friday against Sparkman, ranked No. 2 in 7A and ninth nationally. They are expected to hear early in the morning if the games are a go.
Gulf Coast Classic
Piedmont 5, Colbert County 3
GULF SHORES – Mason Mohon snapped a 3-3 tie with a one-out double in the third inning and Bailey Graves pitched a complete game for the Bulldogs.
Mohon’s RBI double was followed by Caleb Morrow’s run-scoring infield out as the Bulldogs bounced back from giving up three unearned runs in the top of the inning that tied the game.
Bayley Blanchard had two hits, including a two-run double in the second inning. Mohon also had two hits.
Graves gave up six hits and struck out four in getting the win. Colbert County is ranked No. 7 in Class 3A.
Haleyville 15, Piedmont 6
GULF SHORES — The No. 9 4A Lions sent 11 batters to the plate in the third and seventh innings, scoring six runs in each frame. Six of their first seven runs and nine total were unearned as the Bulldogs were charged with eight errors.
Easton Kirk and Caleb Morrow both went 3-for-3 with two RBIs for Piedmont. T.J. Fairs had two hits. Mason Mohon and Davis Young drove home the Bulldogs’ other runs.
Haleyville’s William Evans went 4-for-5 with five RBIs.
Muscle Shoals 11, Alexandria 1
GULF SHORES – Jacob Heathcock singled home Riley Shaw in the Valley Cubs’ first inning, but No. 3 6A Muscle Shoals answered with three in the bottom of the inning and led 5-1 after two innings.
Muscle Shoals hit three home runs in the game – Harris Kain, Desmond Williams and Alan Balentine.
Lake Martin Classic
ALEXANDER CITY – White Plains split its two games here this week, beating Dadeville 6-4 and losing to Marbury 5-1. The Wildcats were rained out Thursday and Friday’s games are cancelled.
Cleburne County had a tough day at the plate Wednesday, losing to No. 7 6A Opelika 10-0 and No. 6 5A Tallassee 13-0 with three hits in two games.
THURSDAY’S LINESCORES
Oxford 11, Hoover 4
Oxford 030 350 0 – 11 9 0
Hoover 000 400 0 – 4 6 3
WP: Brody Syer. LP: Michael McClung.
Moody 8, Oxford 7
Oxford 001 042 0 – 7 9 3
Moody 121 020 2 – 8 11 0
WP: Oliver. LP: Heard.
Piedmont 5, Colbert County 3
Colbert Co. 003 000 0 – 3 6 2
Piedmont 032 000 x – 5 6 3
WP: Bailey Graves. LP: Samuel Gillott.
Haleyville 15, Piedmont 6
Haleyville 106 110 6 – 15 15 1
Piedmont 001 030 2 – 6 12 8
WP: Matthew Brimer. LP: Logan Pruitt.
Muscle Shoals 11, Alexandria 1
Alexandria 100 00 – 1 4 1
Muscle Shoals 320 15 – 11 8 0
WP: Luke Byrd. LP: Austin Goode.
Here are some Wednesday scores you may not have seen:
Wednesday’s scores
BASEBALL
Opelika 10, Cleburne County 0
Tallassee 13, Cleburne County 0
Rogers 2, Weaver 1
SOFTBALL
Lincoln 17, Munford 5
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