Baseball roundup: Munford uses opposite field to big advantage in area win over Cleburne County; Hayes, Willingham spin one-hit shutouts and more
TUESDAY’S GAMES
Childersburg 10, Wellborn 5
Jacksonville 10, White Plains 0
Lincoln 7, Alexandria 6
Munford 13, Cleburne County 0
Oxford 7, Hickman (Mo.) 1
Piedmont 10, Pleasant Valley 0
Ranburne 11, Ohatchee 9
Weaver 8, Saks 3
By Al Muskewitz
MUNFORD – A big part of Munford’s baseball practice Monday afternoon was really playing a game within a game.
The coaches lined off the field in three sections and assigned each a point value — one to the pull side, two up the middle and three to the opposite field. The focus was on hitting the ball the other way, so the off-hand side for each hitter was worth more points.
The game was such a hit in practice it carried over into Tuesday’s area opener with Cleburne County. The Lions put 10 balls in play the other way, including six of their 13 hits, and ran away from the Tigers 13-0 in five innings.
“I didn’t know it was 10, but I know there were a lot,” Munford coach Derek Stephens said. “During the (second inning when it got to be 6-0) the kids said, ‘That’s six points.’ I said, ‘It’s runs.’ They go, ‘No, coach, we’re playing that game we did yesterday. We’re keeping up with our points.’”
All three runs the Lions scored in the first inning – and four of their first six – came on balls that went to the opposite field. Their first eight oppos either scored runs or moved runners. Five of their first six hits went the other way.
All four of left-handed hitting Tyler Stephens’ at-bats went to the opposite field. And all three of right-handed No. 9 hitter Jonathan Ponder’s did, too.
“In our batting practice, normally we get out there and we’re just hitting to hit,” said Tyler Stephens, who had two singles and a double in his first three at-bats, “but we’ve really focused on hitting the ball away.
“I’ve kind of been struggling on that a little bit this year, so doing that yesterday and coming in here and hitting oppo my first three hits, that helped me a lot.”
Stephens’ first opposite-field hit drove in the game’s first run. Mason Brewer drove in Stephens with an opposite-field double and Brody Stephens brought home a third run with an opposite-field sacrifice fly.
The Lions batted around in the second, chasing starter Brayden Moore after three straight opposite-field hits and Connor Morgan’s two-run single up the middle.
They scored in all four innings they batted, but the way Brody Stephens was pitching, what they had done in the first two innings were plenty.
Brody Stephens gave up four hits and walked three, but even when the Tigers had a threat – they put runners in scoring position with less than one out each of the last four innings – he pitched out it with no damage.
“That’s how he is; he’s very consistent,” Derek Stephens said of Brody. “I don’t know how many games he’s pitched for us now, but that’s what we get every time. We get somebody who can throw three pitches for a strike, has good command and then any time there’s adversity, he’ll pitch out of it.”
Cleburne County 000 00 – 0 4 3
Munford 344 2x – 13 13 1
WP: Brody Stephens. LP: Brayden Moore. 2B: Corbin Smith (M), Tyler Stephens (M), Mason Brewer (M), Caleb Watts (M).
Piedmont 10, Pleasant Valley 0: Jack Hayes took a perfect game into the fifth inning without a ball leaving the infield and finished with a one-hit shutout. Jack Ponder broke up the gem with a leadoff single in the fifth.
The Bulldogs batted around in each of the first two innings to open a 10-0 lead. Their first seven batters of the game reached safety and six scored. Noah Reedy delivered the big blow, a two-run double chasing home the game’s first two runs.
Their first seven batters reached safely in the second and the first four scored. Ridge Fagan had a two-run single.
Hayes did the rest. He threw 63 pitches, faced one batter over the minimum and had only one three-ball count.
Pleasant Valley 000 00 – 0 1 3
Piedmont 640 0x – 10 7 0
WP: Jack Hayes. LP: Pelham Parris. 2B: Noah Reedy (P).
Jacksonville 10, White Plains 0: Kody Willingham took a no-hitter in the fifth inning and finished with a one-hit shutout with seven strikeouts. He faced only four batters over the minimum. Brandon Hahm broke up the gem with a single to right leading off the fifth.
Taj Morris and Melo Canales both went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the Golden Eagles. Jim Ogle also had a pair of hits.
White Plains 000 00 – 0 1 4
Jacksonville 152 11 – 10 9 0
WP: Kody Willingham. LP: Duke Barnett. 3B: Melo Canales (J), Jim Ogle (J).
Weaver 8, Saks 3: Elijah Smith was at the top of the Bearcats’ lineup and at the top of his game. He had two extra-base hits from the leadoff spot, stole home for a run and pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts.
Saks tied the game in the second (1-1) and the fifth (3-3), but Weaver took the lead for good with five in the home fifth. Dalton Homesley, Rabon Kirk and Gabriel Masaniai all had RBI singles in the inning.
“Great job by (Smith) and all the kids,” Weaver coach Jamie Harper said. “They competed today and that’s what it takes.
“(Smith) was a bulldog today for us at the plate and on the mound. Great night for him and our team.”
Saks 010 020 0 – 3 4 0
Weaver 102 050 x – 8 11 0
WP: Elijah Smith. LP: Mason Jairrels. 2B: Trent Hopkins (S), Elijah Smith (W). 3B: Jakari Streeter (S), Elijah Smith (W).
Childersburg 10, Wellborn 4: Jordan Sanders went 3-for-4 with a homer and Ronald Twymon shut down Wellborn for the nearly five innings after the Panthers took an early lead to win the area game.
Wellborn built a 4-2 lead after two innings, but Twymon came and put out the fire and then allowed only one run and struck out 10 into the seventh while his team took the lead. The Tigers took the lead with three in the third and broke it open with four in the fifth.
Beau Neely had two hits with two RBIs for Wellborn, Brennan Talley had two hits and Cam Ingram drove in a pair of runs.
Childersburg 113 140 0 – 10 15 1
Wellborn 130 000 1 – 5 7 7
WP: Ronald Twymon. LP: JoJo Wyatt. 2B: Austin Luker (C), Jordan Sanders 2 (C), Ronald Twymon (C), Cam Ingram (W), JoJo Wyatt (W). HR: Jordan Sanders (C).
Ranburne 11, Ohatchee 9: The Indians hit the ball as well as they have all year against the best pitching they’ve seen this season. The hard part was Ranburne was the best hitting team they’d faced all year and hit it better.
Devin Howell returned to the Indians’ lineup and went 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs. Jesse Baswell had two doubles.
Ohatchee jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, but the Bulldogs scored 11 runs over the next three innings. The Indians put together a five-run rally in the sixth, highlighted by Howell’s two-run double, and had the tying run at the plate but Jackson Truett came on and put out the fire.
Ohatchee 220 005 0 – 9 8 1
Ranburne 025 400 x – 11 13 2
WP: Tyler Craft. LP: Bryce Noah. 2B: Jesse Baswell 2 (O), Jake Roberson (O), Devin Howell (O), Tyler Craft (R), Jaxon Langley (R). [*** read more]
