E.A. Sports Today

Saturday baseball

Wellborn picks up first victory, Piedmont sweeps Ranburne with pair of shutouts, Alexandria wins 2, Vols’ Ogles throws one-hitter

Saturday’s games
Alexandria 12, Randolph 4
Alexandria 16, Guntersville 3
Clay Central 12, Cleburne County 0
Oxford 7-11, Hartselle 12-4
Piedmont 12-6, Ranburne 0-0
Pleasant Valley 3, New Hope 0
Pleasant Valley 8, North Jackson 7

Wellborn 11, Victory Christian 4

By East Alabama Sports Today
 
The Wellborn Panthers were shut out Friday night but they got in the cage first thing Saturday morning with an approach that it wasn’t going to happen again.
 
The Panthers erupted for 14 hits and two big innings in an 11-4 victory over Victory Christian for their first win of the season. They lost to the Lions 4-0 the night before.
 
Jett Smith went 3-for-5 and three others – winning pitcher JoJo Wyatt, freshman Beau Neely and Logan Grubbs – had two hits each. Grubbs, who reached base all four times he batted, and Neely both had two RBIs.
 
“Our kids went with a different mindset,” Panthers coach J.T. Burns said. “The JV played first and the varsity got in the cage, went to work and got on the ball. We opened the season with two losses and it was almost like, ‘It’s not happening to us anymore.’”
 
The Panthers fell behind in the top of the fourth, but rallied for four in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead for good. They broke it open with five in the sixth.
 
Neely, the No. 8 hitter playing right field with Wyatt on the mound, led off the fourth with the first of his two doubles. He scored on Will Waldrop’s RBI single and Wyatt tied the game with a two-out RBI double. Grubbs put the Panthers ahead with an RBI single and the fourth run of the inning scored on a passed ball.
 
“There’s no quit in them,” Burns said.
 
Wellborn 11, Victory Christian 4
Victory                  000 300 1 –  4   9   1
Wellborn              100 415 x – 11 14 3
WP: Wyatt. LP: Sargent.

Shutout sweep

PIEDMONT – The depth of Piedmont’s pitching staff was on full display as six pitchers combined to fashion a pair of  shutouts as the Bulldogs swept Ranburne 12-0 and 6-0.
 
The six pitchers allowed a total of eight hits, six walks and struck out 13 in 12 innings. Three pitchers had 11 strikeouts in the Bulldogs’ first win of the season Friday against Cleburne County the night before.
 
Brant Deerman got the win in the five-inning first game and Jack Hayes got the win in the nightcap.
 
“I’ve been extremely pleased with our pitching,” Bulldogs coach Matt Deerman said. “We don’t have a dominant guy on the mound, but we’ve got a lot of guys who can throw three pitches and get ahead in the count and hit the pitch they want you to hit.
 
“We don’t have one single guy like Taylor (Hayes) was his senior year, but we feel like we’ve got four guys, potentially five or six, who can throw in area games or playoff games. It’s nice to have that kind of pitching staff.”
 
The pitchers got a lot of help behind them, too. The Bulldogs (3-2) have made only one error in their three-game winning streak.
 
“Our defense had a lot to do with it,” Deerman said. “It seemed every time they got a base runner we’d turn a double play, get a strike out or somebody made a play. Our defense was much better today and yesterday than it was against Alexandria, like last year  where one bad inning would cost us a game. We’ve played the last 19 innings with one error; you’ll win a lot of games like that.”
 
The bats were hot Saturday as well. Mason Mohon had two doubles in the opener and homered in the nightcap. Nick Johnson and Logan Pruitt each had a pair of RBIs in the opener. Mohon and T.J. Fairs each had two hits in the nightcap.
 
Game One
Piedmont 12, Ranburne 0
Ranburne             000 0 – 0 2 5
Piedmont              254 1 – 12 9 0
WP: Deerman. LP: Jackson.
 
Game Two
Piedmont 6, Ranburne 0
Ranburne             000 000 0 – 0 6 2
Piedmont              100 131 x – 6 8 0
WP: Hayes. LP: L. Langley. HR: Mohon.

Ogles gem extends Vols best start

LINEVILLE – Chip Ogles continued his mastery on the mound and Clay Central continued its best ever start with a 12-0 shutout of Cleburne County.

Ogles backed up the no-hitter he threw in his first start with a one-hitter in Saturday’s five-inning game. He struck out nine and walked none. The only hit he allowed was Porter Embry’s single in the third. He allowed only two baserunners.

Carter Young led the Vols’ 11-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with four RBIs. Ogles went 3-for-3 and Caden McCain went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

The Vols improved to 7-0.

Clay Central 12, Cleburne County 0
Cleburne County     000 00 – 0 1 1
Clay Central              352 2x – 12 11 1
WP: C. Ogles. LP: Hicks. 

Cubs swing big bats

GUNTERSVILLE – After splitting a home doubleheader with Arab on Friday, Alexandria hit the road Saturday and took games from Randolph 12-4 and Guntersville 16-3.
 
Noah Primm and Layton Ellison swung the biggest bats for the Valley Cubs (5-1). Primm went 7-for-8 in the doubleheader with eight RBIs; he drove in six against Guntersville. Ellison drove in four runs in each game.
 
Dylan Digangi was the winning pitcher in the first game, giving up three hits and two earned runs in four innings. Ben McNew struck out four in three innings to get the save. Mitch Welch won the second game, giving up two hits and striking out five in 3 1/3 innings.

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