Willingham, Jacksonville edge Cherokee County in key series opener; Saks, Ohatchee clinch playoff spots, and more
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Childersburg 9, Weaver 5
Donoho 10, Ragland 3
Faith Christian 10, Jacksonville Christian 7
Jacksonville 4, Cherokee County 3
Ohatchee 7, Pleasant Valley 1
Oxford 14, Southside 0
Piedmont 5, Glencoe 0
St. Clair County 9, Alexandria 7
Saks 20-20, Wellborn 8-14
White Plains 12, Anniston 2
By Shannon Fagan
CENTRE – For the Cherokee County Warriors, Tuesday’s Class 4A Area 9 baseball series opener against Jacksonville was a game of missed opportunities.
They stranded base runners in crucial situations, and they struggled getting bunts down to move those runners.
Still, freshman pitcher Garrett McCray still kept the Warriors in the game, but so did Jacksonville senior Kody Willingham.
In the end, Willingham bested McCray and the Warriors 4-3 to take the edgein a series that will determine the area champion. Willingham tossed afour-hitter with four walks and 11 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. McCray wasthe tough-luck loser. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits with awalk and a strikeout.
“Today was probably the best game Kody had in a Jacksonville Golden Eagle uniform,” Jacksonville coach Jamison Edwards said. “He competed all day. Hefought through the tough situations. He fought through the adversity. He fought through the situations where a lot of times this year he’s kind of been on the other side, but he just kept grinding, kept fighting and kept us in the ball game. I cannot say enough about him.”
Jacksonville (14-7) struck first in the top of the third inning. With two outs, leadoff batter Taj Morris singled to center. Following a walk to Willingham, Tito Canales and Jim Ogle delivered back-to-back doubles to left to provide the Golden Eagles a 3-0 advantage.
The Warriors (12-17) battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth as they batted around against Willingham.
Tristan Whitefield led off with a single to left. Connor Wilson followed with a double to left, then Walker Pruett was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Haden Wheeler. Willingham got an out, but Jackson Waldrop coaxed a walk to bring home the Warriors’ first run. Luke Young then delivered a two-run double to right to tie the game at 3.
“That’s kind of what we’re built to do,” Warriors coach Will Smith said. “Somebody punches us in the mouth and we want to try and give that punch back. We did. That’s all you can ask out of these guys.”
Jacksonville regained the lead in the top of the fifth with an unearned run, and Willingham made it stand. He did run into a little trouble in the bottom of the seventh with two outs when he walked Whitfield to bring Wilson to the plate.
Edwards brought in reliever Grant Patterson, who earned a one-pitch save for getting Wilson to ground back to him on the first pitch to end the game.
“I felt like (Willingham) got squeezed right there on that last batter ofthe day,” Edwards said. “I thought he earned the win right there, but that’s baseball and you’ve got to play the next play. We had (Patterson) come in and he got us an out on one pitch.”
Canales and Jackson Bonner led Jacksonville at the plate by going 2-for-3. Willingham was 1-for-3 with a walk. Ogle went 1-for-2. Carmelo Canales was1-for-3 and Morris was 1-for-4.
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Henry Farm Park. A third game, if necessary, will follow.
“These two teams are equal,” Edwards said. “This is good high school baseball. We’ve got to stay grounded and we’ve got to stay focused andwe’ve got to show up tomorrow and be ready to do the same thing.”
“I’ve been preaching from day one it’s going to take us winning a three-game series to win the area, to win a playoff series,” Smith said .“We’re prepared for it. We’re ready for it. Our guys are embracing it. I can’t wait for tomorrow. It should be fun.”
Shannon Fagan is the WEIS Radio Sports Director.
Jacksonville 003 010 0 – 4 8 1
Cherokee Co. 000 300 0 – 3 4 2
WP: Kody Willingham. LP: Garrett McRay. 2B: Jim Ogle (J), Tito Canales (J), Luke Young (CC), Connor Wilson (CC)
Saks 20-20, Wellborn 8-14: The Wildcats’ bats came alive in the two games they needed to win most, scoring 20 runs in each game to sweep the doubleheader, sweep the series and clinch a Class 3A playoff berth for the second year in a row.
Winning pitcher Mason Jairrels went 4-for-4, homered twice and drove in six runs in the opener. J.J. Waters went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, Jacob Avery went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and Rickey Garrett went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Jairrels went 2-for-3 in the nightcap. Trent Hopkins went 3-for-4, Malik Carlisle went 2-for-4 and both drove in a pair of runs. Ethan Carroll went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and JoJo Wyatt drove in three for Wellborn.
“It’s a testament to our kids,” Saks coach Wes Ginn said of the playoff berth. “We’ve had a tough season, been through a lot, but all that aside we still found a way to make the playoffs. The kids played well went it matter the most, so now we’re in.”
Saks 391 70 – 20 12 2
Wellborn 300 05 – 8 9 10
WP: Mason Jairrels. LP: Brennan Talley. 2B: Mason Jairrels (S), Trent Hopkins (S). 3B: Landon Boyd (W). HR: Mason Jairrels (S).
Saks 273 71 – 20 11 1
Wellborn 113 18 – 14 11 3
WP: Rickey Garrett. LP: Ethan Carroll. 2B: Ethan Carroll 2 (W), JoJo Wyatt (W). 3B: Rickey Garrett (S), Brody Smith (W), JoJo Wyatt (W).
Ohatchee 7, Pleasant Valley 1: Brent Honaker sealed the game with a three-run homer in the seventh, drove in four runs altogether and was a triple shy of the cycle to help the Indians clinch a Class 3A playoff berth. Bryce Noah pitched a complete-game three-hitter with seven strikeouts.
Ohatchee 001 200 4 – 7 7 3
Pleasant Valley 000 001 0 – 1 3 5
WP: Bryce Noah. LP: Pelham Parris. 2B: Brent Honaker (O). HR: Brent Honaker (O).
Piedmont 5, Glencoe 0: The Bulldogs ran their winning streak to 18 games behind a combined shutout from Jack Hayes (6-0) and Sloan Smith. Max Hanson and Jake Austin both had two hits and Hayes had a pair of RBIs. McClane Mohon went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 23 games. He’s hitting .539 with three homers and 31 RBIs during the streak.
Piedmont 000 302 0 – 5 9 1
Glencoe 000 000 0 – 0 8 3
WP: Jack Hayes. LP: Brady Kitchens.
Donoho 10, Ragland 3: Lucas Elliott hit a a solo homer, Peyton Webb hit a two-run triple and the Falcons hit for the cycle as a team in a six-run sixth inning that broke open the game. Webb and Elliott both had two hits and two RBIs, and Tyler Allen had two hits.
Winning pitcher Slade Haney allowed three hits and no earned runs over the first six innings and went 3-for-4 with an RBI at the plate.
Donoho 100 306 0 – 10 13 3
Ragland 010 010 1 – 3 5 1
WP: Slade Haney. LP: David Donaldson. 2B: Will Folsom (D). 3B: Peyton Webb (D). HR: Lucas Elliott (D).
Faith 10, JCA 7: Colton Pahman went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and gave up four hits and two unearned runs over the first five innings on the mound. Pahman had the go-ahead two-run single in the second after after JCA tied it on Noah Lee’s two-run single in the first and had a two-run triple in the fourth to extend the lead. Carson Limbaugh had two hits and Brady Whitworth had two RBIs.
Faith 220 300 3 – 10 9 5
JCA 200 001 4 – 7 10 3
WP: Colton Pahman. LP: Cam Moses. 3B: Colton Pahman (F).
Oxford 14, Southside 0: The Yellow Jackets parlayed six walks and Sam Robertson’s three-run double into nine runs in the first inning and Peyton Watts gave up one hit over five innings and struck out nine for the shutout. The only hit Watts allowed was a leadoff single to Drew McBurnett in the bottom of the first.
Oxford 903 02 – 14 10 2
Southside 000 00 – 0 1 2
WP: Peyton Watts. LP: Jacob McFarling. 2B: Sam Robertson 2 (O).
White Plains 12, Anniston 2: Will Caldwell struck out 11 over five innings to get the win on the mound and had one of the Wildcats’ four extra-base hits. Miles Austin went 3-for-3 from the leadoff spot, Braxton Curles went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Brandon Hahm drove in three runs.
Anniston 001 01 – 2 4 0
White Plains 461 1x – 12 11 0
WP: Will Caldwell. LP: Dylan Goodson. 2B: Dylan Goodson (A), Jaylon Lewis (A), Will Caldwell (WP), Ashton Wallace (WP), Braxton Curles (WP). 3B: Miles Austin (WP).
Childersburg 9, Weaver 5: Devin Anderson’s grand slam in the third inning got the Bearcats back within one in a game they needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, but Childersburg scored three in the fifth to regain control.
Childersburg 402 030 0 – 9 16 0
Weaver 005 000 0 – 5 6 0
WP: Lane Dennis. LP: Rabon Kirk. 2B: Lane Dennis (C), Jordan Mann (C), J.D. Oakes 2 (C), Payton Tanner (C). HR: Devin Anderson (W) [*** read more]
