Calhoun County, AL – The quarterfinal round of the Calhoun County Tournament is underway at Choccolocco Park.
Calhoun County baseball tournament
All games at Choccolocco Park
FRIDAY, Feb. 28
First round
No. 12 Faith Christian 9, No. 13 Anniston 3
No. 11 Jacksonville Christian 15, No. 14 Saks 3
No. 7 Donoho 15, No. 10 Weaver 11
No. 8 Pleasant Valley 6, No. 9 Wellborn 3
No. 5 Jacksonville 17, Faith 0
No. 6 Ohatchee 12, JCA 2
SATURDAY. March 1
Quarterfinals
Jacksonville 3, No. 4 White Plains 2
No. 2 Alexandria 9, Donoho 5
No. 1 Oxford vs. Pleasant Valley, 4 p.m.
No. 3 Piedmont vs. Ohatchee, 2 p.m.
MONDAY, March 3
Semifinals
Alexandria vs. Piedmont/Ohatchee, 5 p.m.
Jacksonville vs. Oxford/Pleasant Valley, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, March 4
Championship, 6 p.m.
Jacksonville-White Plains
JACKSONVILLE 3, WHITE PLAINS 2: Jackson Bonner continued his hot-hitting ways, and Jackson Askew pitched a complete game for give No. 5 Jacksonville (5-6) the first upset by seed in the tournament.
The Golden Eagles will play in Monday’s 7 p.m. semifinal against the Oxford-Pleasant Valley winner.
No. 4 seed White Plains (3-4) had beaten Jacksonville twice this season, but Jacksonville found the formula Saturday. It started with Askew limiting the Wildcats to five hits and one earned run with three strikeouts in seven innings.
“Jackson Askew was phenomenal,” Jacksonville coach Jamison Edwards said. “He went all seven, and we hadn’t had a guy to go seven this year. Some of that was by design. I was trying to get them going early, but seven innings, and I think he threw 72 pitches today.
“He was super efficient, attacking the zone and trusting his guys to make a play behind him.”
Bonner went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, singling home Xaye Lemon in the third inning and John Ducar with the go-ahead run in the fourth.
Bonner homered in Jacksonville’s tourney opener, a 17-0 victory over Faith Christian on Friday. He was a double away from the cycle in that game.
“Jackson is swinging it real well and seems to be seeing it real well,” Edwards said. “He’s hit some this year where he’s had some real bad luck. He’s hit it right at them. He’s hit it real hard but hit it right at them.
“He’s hit a couple the last two nights where it wasn’t real hard, but it found its way through. That’s what I told them. If we’ll keep swinging and keep attacking, that will happen.”
White Plains’ Luke Richardson also pitched the distance Saturday, allowing five hits and one earned run with three strikeouts.
Dalton Luker went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Crew Martin had a single with an RBI. Ashton Wallace doubled and scored a run.
Donoho-Alexandria
ALEXANDRIA 9, DONOHO 5: Alexandria got through what Valley Cubs coach Zac Welch called “survival Saturday.” Now, Alexandria must figure out Make Your Mind Monday.
Emmitt Pinson did the lion’s share of the work of getting the Valley Cubs through their 9-5 victory over Donoho in Saturday’s quarterfinals, allowing four hits, two earned runs and two walks with eight strikeouts in five innings.
Alexandria advanced to face the Ohatchee-Piedmont winner in Monday’s 5 p.m. semifinal, and Welch is looking for a starter on the mound.
“It’s to be determined,” he said. “We threw a quality arm at (Donoho) with Pinson, and that took a guy out of our rotation. We’ll have to look and see what we’ve got.
“Donoho is a quality opponent, and we didn’t look ahead, so we’re not real sure what we’re going to do next game. Until about 30 seconds ago, I wasn’t sure we were going to be there.”
Donoho took a 2-0 lead on Hayes Farrell’s two-run home run to left field in the top of the first, and the Falcons rallied for three runs to tie the game 5-5 in the top of the sixth on Sam Montgomery’s RBI single, a passed ball to score Farrell and Luke Farrell’s bloop single.
Alexandria answered with a four-run sixth. Jacob Cunningham was hit by pitch with bases loaded to make it 6-5, and Camryn Johnson’s sacrifice fly made it 7-5. Jacob Slaton drew a bases-loaded walk, and a passed ball scored the final run.
Cunningham had a double and two RBIs, and Slaton drove in two runs. Bray Goode doubled with an RBI and scored four runs.
Johnson and Garrett Haynes each had an RBI.
Ohatchee-Piedmont
–T1: Nothing for Ohatchee.
–B1: Nothing doing for Piedmont.
–T2: Nothing doing for Ohatchee.
–B2: Carson Sanders lays down a perfect bunt single to score a runner, 1-0, Piedmont. …
Donoho, Jacksonville, Ohatchee and Pleasant Valley get through to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Calhoun County baseball tournament
All games at Choccolocco Park
FRIDAY, Feb. 28
First round
No. 12 Faith Christian 9, No. 13 Anniston 3
No. 11 Jacksonville Christian 15, No. 14 Saks 3
No. 7 Donoho 15, No. 10 Weaver 11
No. 8 Pleasant Valley 6, No. 9 Wellborn 3
No. 5 Jacksonville 17, Faith 0
No. 6 Ohatchee 12, JCA 2
SATURDAY. March 1
Quarterfinals
No. 4 White Plains vs. Jacksonville, 10 a.m.
No. 1 Oxford vs. Pleasant Valley, 4 p.m.
No. 2 Alexandria vs. Donoho, Noon
No. 3 Piedmont vs. Ohatchee, 2 p.m.
MONDAY, March 3
Semifinals
Alexandria/Donoho vs. Piedmont/Ohatchee, 5 p.m.
White Plains/Jacksonville vs. Oxford/Pleasant Valley, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, March 4
Championship, 6 p.m.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD — Donoho, Jacksonville, Ohatchee and Pleasant Valley won Friday at Choccolocco Park to get through to Saturday’s quarterfinals of the Calhoun County baseball tournament.
Here’s a rundown of Friday’s games:
Early games
DONOHO 15, WEAVER 11: Cash Worley went 3-for-5 and two RBIs and two runs, and his relief work helped Donoho rebound after Weaver scored seven runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 10-4 lead.
The Falcons advanced to Saturday’s noon quarterfinal against No. 2 seed Alexandria.
Worley got the win, pitching 3 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and four earned runs with two strikeouts and four walks.
Hayes Farrell added two RBIs and one run, and Luke Farrell went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Kai Cleckler was 1-for-1 with a double and scored four runs.
“We had to kind of piece it together through the night,” Donoho coach Steve Gendron said. “We did some uncharacteristic things. I think the sun had a little bit to do with it early in the game. The big field, not used to it.
“We started a freshman on the mound, and he did pretty good. We brought in Cash Worley to shut the door, and I can’t say enough about Cash. He pitched his tail off. He had a good game, and we needed it.”
Weaver’s Carson Campbell went 2-for-4 with two doubles, four RBIs and one run. Connor Hyatt was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, and the Bearcats got a single and run apiece from Jalen Kendall and Cael Fulmer. Lyric Newman had an RBI and scored a run.
JCA 15, SAKS 3: Noah Lee hit an inside-the-park home run and had five RBIs as JCA improved to 4-0 and earned the right to face Ohatchee at 6:30 p.m. Lee also scored two runs.
Jesse Gannaway was 1-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs. Nick Brodeur had a single, two RBIs and a run, and Skyler Crider had a single, two runs and two RBIs.
Saks’ D.J. Tuck was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Jahmaad Crook had an RBI.
FAITH CHRISTIAN 9, ANNISTON 3: Toby Ricard went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and a run, and Faith (2-2) advanced to face Jacksonville at 6:30 p.m.
Jayden Smith doubled with two runs and three RBIs, and Colton Reese tripled and scored two runs. Levi Wells went 2-for-2 with a double and a run.
Smith pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run with 11 strikeouts.
Anniston got an RBI from Roger Chapman.
Late games
OHATCHEE 12, JCA 2: Xavier Luna went 2-for-3 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs as the Indians advanced to Saturday’s 2 p.m. quarterfinal against No. 3 seed Piedmont.
Alston Carroll homered with two RBIs, and Ethan Jones had a triple, two RBIs and a run. Leadoff hitter Drake Kay tripled and scored a run, and Ohatchee got a double and RBI from Hunter Brown. Jakson Smith went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Brayden Collins went 3-for-3 with a triple and three runs.
Jones struck out 13 batters over five innings. He allowed four hits and two earned runs.
JCA’s Jesse Gannaway went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Bryson Dowdey doubled with an RBI.
“I thought we played pretty well, overall,” Ohatchee coach Kyle Parrish said. “Their starting pitcher kept us off balance early, and it took us a little bit to find a spark. That spark today was Ethan Jones coming through with a two-RBI triple.
“Once we got going, Collins, Luna and the rest of the guys kept finding green grass. Alston Carroll has had a hot stick the past couple of days, hitting his second home run in as many days. Ethan Jones took care of business on the mound, as well. He is really taking his job on the mound to the next level this year. Overall, it was a great team win!”
JACKSONVILLE 17, FAITH CHRISTIAN 0: John Ducar and Sam Parker Wagoner combined to allow Faith two hits. Ducar allowed both hits and struck out six batters over three innings. Wagoner struck out three batters with one walk in one inning of relief.
Jacksonville will play No. 4 see White Plains in Saturday’s 10 a.m. quarterfinal.
Jackson Bonner went 3-for-4 with a home run, a triple, four RBIs and three runs. Matthew Salmon went 2-for-2 with a double, three RBis and two runs.
Ducar went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run, and Cooper Haynes went 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and two runs. Wagoner went 1-for-1 with three runs and two RBIs.
Xaye Lemon went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI.
Faith’s Colton Reese went 1-for-1 with a double.
“Good to get back in the win column after dropping a tough one last night to Cherokee County,” Jacksonville coach Jamison Edwards said. “I thought the guys did a good job of handling things and not letting themselves get caught looking ahead to Saturday.
“John Ducar did a nice job of settling in after the first inning and wound up giving us three good innings tonight. Had some guys put some good swings on the baseball. Jackson Bonner had a great night at the plate. Hopefully we can swing it well tomorrow.”
PLEASANT VALLEY 6, WELLBORN 3: Pleasant Valley’s Jake Barnwell pitched a complete game, spreading out seven hits and allowing two earned runs and one walk with six strikeouts in seven innings.
The Raiders earned a berth in Saturday’s 4 p.m. quarterfinal with top seed Oxford.
Noah Johnson led the Raiders at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs.
Pleasant Valley also got a single and RBI apiece from Peyton Mann and Nic Acker. Jackson Acker also contributed an RBI.
Wellborn’s Sawyer Thomas went 2-for-3 with a run. Dozer Hayes went 1-for-3 with an RBI and Cameron O’Brien each went 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Zack Pressley hit a triple.
Wellborn’s Tanner Ingram pitched six innings, allowing eight hits and six earned runs with two walks and two strikeouts.
“Give credit to Wellborn. That pitcher pitched real well,” Pleasant Valley coach Dalton Turner said. “Our guys come out and we hit the ball, and we were able to get some runs in the middle of the game that helped us out.
“Our pitcher, Jake Barnwell, has been pitching great for us all year. He pitched seven innings tonight and did a heck of a job. The defense played well behind him, and we’re stringing some wins together. Things are starting to click for us.”
