E.A. Sports Today

Baseball playoffs

Oxford, Donoho sweep way to quarterfinals, eye familiar foes; Alexandria, Piedmont split Friday, face Game 3s on the road on Saturday

Drew McCormick gets a fist bump from Oxford coach Wes Brooks while rounding the bases following one of his back-to-back home runs in Game 1 on Friday, (Submitted photo)

SECOND ROUND SERIES
Best-of-3
Friday

Class 2A
Donoho (23-3) 6-4, Fayetteville (21-14) 5-2; Donoho sweeps series

Class 3A
Piedmont (24-8) 7-4, Decatur Heritage (18-13) 2-5; Game 3, Saturday, noon

Class 5A
Alexandria (30-6) 0-1,Arab (31-7) 1-0; Game 3, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Class 6A
Oxford (33-6) 10-9, Mountain Brook (22-12) 0-4; Oxford sweeps series

By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — A hip injury kept Hayes Harrison from batting in Oxford’s second-round Class 6A playoff series with Mountain Brook on Friday, but he pitched.

Drew McCormick is known for his big arm on the mound but swung a big bat.

Harrison’s four-hit shutout and McCormick’s two home runs powered Oxford to a 10-0 victory in Game 1, and the Yellow Jackets finished the sweep 9-4 in Game 2 at Choccolocco Park.

The sweep earned top-ranked Oxford (33-6) a quarterfinal, best-of-3 series at No. 2 Hartselle (28-7), which swept Minor 10-0, 10-0 on Friday.

“It’s almost like a storybook tale,” Harrison said. “We played them my sophomore year in the playoffs, and it didn’t go our way. The first game of this year, we lost to them, but we’re going to prepare really hard this week and do everything we possibly can to bring it home next week.”

Friday’s sweep was Oxford’s second of these playoffs. The Yellow Jackets beat Center Point in two five-inning mercy-rule games last week, and Friday’s Game 1 was done in five.

Oxford has played 22 postseason innings and given up 11 hits and four runs.

Hayden Gallahar was one of four pitchers to work in Friday’s Game 2 but pitched five innings in relief, allowing five hits and no runs with five strikeouts and one walk for the win.

Harrison, the reigning Class 4A-6A All-Calhoun County player of the year, struck out nine batters in five innings.

He worked through a hip injury that he started to feel the day before Oxford’s first-round playoff series with Center Point. He said he felt a “tweak” while warming up for the first game of that series.

He pitched had a two-inning start then spent the last week rehabbing.

“We’re not sure yet what it is,” he said. “We don’t have a diagnosis yet. Had an X-ray today, and that came back clear.”

Harrison said his performance Friday was all about giving all of what the injury left him. Brooks used a designated hitter for Harrison’s No. 4 spot in the batting order.

“We’ve babied him all week, and he wasn’t feeling great yesterday,” Oxford coach Wes Brooks said. “I didn’t make my mind up until 4:05 today that he was going to be the starter in Game 1, and (four) hits and nine strikeouts. That’s awesome.

“He’s a warrior. You want every guy to say, ‘Coach, I don’t care if I’m 50 percent. I want the ball.’ He gets up and is like, ‘I’m not a hundred percent, but I’m good enough to help my team win.”

McCormick, who signed with Jacksonville State University as a pitcher, hit his first two home runs of the season … a three-run bomb over the 390-foot mark in center field and a two-run shot over the left-field fence.

“It was a special night for me, hitting two home runs back to back,” he said.

McCormick is Oxford’s first baseman when Harrison pitches, so he bats once every five games. If he hits well, he might bat the next game as a designated hitter.

“He has been hitting balls like that in batting practice all year long,” Brooks said. “He just hasn’t gotten in the rhythm of being in the lineup every day.”

Sam Robertson and Forrest Heacock had two hits apiece in Game 1, and Peyton Watts went 3-for-3 with a triple, three runs and an RBI in Game 2. Carter Johnson delivered a double and three RBIs in Game 2, and Heacock had a double and two RBIs.

Johnson also had a bloop single for the game-ending hit in Game 1.

Days are times for Oxford’s series at Hartselle are to be determined.

“It’s their call, so I guess they’ll probably go Thursday-Friday,” Brooks said. “The 6A state finals are on Tuesday (May) 16th, so you need to start bumping up. You don’t want to go Friday-Saturday, Friday-Saturday and turn around and neither one of our number ones (pitchers) can throw.”

Class 5A

ALEXANDRIA 0-1, ARAB 1-0: Top-ranked Alexandria (29-6) and No. 4 Arab mounted two combined runs in Friday’s Game 1 and Game 2. Game 3 is Saturday at 1 p.m.

Alexandria’s Andrew Allen pitched a complete game in Game 1, allowing three hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Tripp Patterson pitched a four-hit shutout in Game 2 with nine strikeouts and two walks.

Samuel Henegar had the Valley Cubs’ lone RBI of the day, singling home Aaron Johnson in the third inning of Game 2. Johnson singled to reach base.

Class 5A

ALEXANDRIA 0-1, ARAB 1-0: Top-ranked Alexandria (29-6) and No. 4 Arab mounted two combined runs in Friday’s Game 1 and Game 2. Game 3 is Saturday at 1 p.m.

Alexandria’s Andrew Allen pitched a complete game in Game 1, allowing three hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Tripp Patterson pitched a four-hit shutout in Game 2 with nine strikeouts and two walks.

Samuel Henegar had the Valley Cubs’ lone RBI of the day, singling home Aaron Johnson in the third inning of Game 2. Johnson singled to reach base.

Class 3A

PIEDMONT 7-4, DECATUR HERITAGE 2-5: Decatur Heritage staved off elimination with Bryant Sparkman’s leadoff solo home run in the top of the 10th inning of Game 2.

Piedmont rallied to score game-tying runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Kale Austin’s RBI double tied it 3-3 in the seventh. Trevor Pike lead off the eighth with a double and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

McClane Mohon had an RBI single in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch to bring Piedmont within 3-2.

In Game 1, Mohon and Max Hanson each had two-run singles, and Hanson plated another run with a sacrifice fly.

Brodie Homesley pitched a complete game, spreading out four hits with six strikeouts.

Class 2A

DONOHO 6-4, FAYETTEVILLE 5-2: Peyton Webb hit his 14th and 15th homers of the season and 20th and 21st of his career, extending his school records. He also set school record with his 51st RBI of the season.

Lucas Elliott became the first Falcon with three consecutive 40-hit seasons. Has reached base safely in 54 consecutive games, including every game of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

The day was full of drama. 

The Falcons won in the bottom of the ninth in Game 1. Marcus Lawler reached on an error, and two more errors on same play moved him to third base with no outs. Nic Thompson grounded out, and Fayetteville intentionally walked Elliott and Webb to load the bases. Blake Sewell drew a bases-loaded walk on four pitches to end it.

In Game 2, umpires ruled Fayetteville base runners failed to tag up Webb’s sliding catch, setting the stage for a triple play in the sixth inning.

Fayetteville’s would-be, game-winning three-run home run in the seventh bounced off of the top of the fence, and the batter overran the runner tagging at first base and was ruled out. Nic Thompson struck out the next two batters to end it.

Donoho (23-3) will go on the road to play Lindsay Lane in the quarterfinals. The series will mark a rematch of last year’s 1A semifinals, which Lindsay Lane won. Donoho beat Lindsay Lane en route to the 2021 1A title series.

Cover photo: Hayes Harrison comes out of his windup in Friday’s Game 1 against Mountain Brook. He struck out nine batters. (Submitted photo)

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