Cubs cruise
- Updated: March 11, 2017
Alexandria wins county tournament opener behind brilliant pitching performance by sophomore Brown
Sophomore right-handed Brennan Brown needed only 78 pitches to complete his five-inning one-hitter against Donoho. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – Brennan Brown wasn’t nervous about pitching in the Calhoun County Tournament for the first time. He approached it just like any other start.
Young pitchers aren’t supposed to be this cool in big games. But the sophomore right-hander gave up only a fourth-inning single, faced just two batters over the minimum for his five innings and struck out 11 as Alexandria shut out Donoho 10-0 in the opening round of the Calhoun County Baseball Tournament.
“He did a good job of just throwing strikes and giving us a chance to win,” Valley Cubs coach Andy Shaw said. “That’s all we asked him to do.”
The fifth-seeded Cubs now play No. 4 Ohatchee in Saturday’s 10 a.m. quarterfinal on the Signature Field at Choccolocco Park.
Brown needed only 78 pitches to get through his second varsity start. Hall Billings was the only Falcons hitter to reach base against him. He walked in the second and broke up the no-hitter with a one-out single in the fourth.
Brown struck out the last five Falcons he faced, six of his last seven and eight of his last nine.
“I came up here and was looking forward to it,” he said. “I wasn’t really nervous at all because I knew I had my team playing behind me.”
The Valley Cubs gave him a 4-0 lead in the first inning and added five more in the third.
Donoho 000 00 — 0 1 9
Alexandria 405 1x — 10 7 0
WP: Brennan Brown. LP: Hall Billings. 3B: Jarred Ponder (A).
Justin Shaw slides safely into third base just moments before scoring Alexandria’s second run of the game. (Photo by B.J. Franklin/GungHo Photos)
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