Oxford, AL – Ahead of storm, Oxford blows game open, gusts past Alexandria for another Calhoun County baseball title.
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. 3 Piedmont 15, Ohatchee 0
No. 1 Oxford 15, Pleasant Valley 0
MONDAY, March 3
Semifinals
Alexandria 4, Piedmont 1
Oxford 5, Jacksonville 0
TUESDAY, March 4
Championship
Oxford 12, Alexandria 2
All-Tournament team
MVP: James Tapley, Oxford.
Defensive MVP: Bray Goode, Alexandria.
Offensive MVP: Hudson Gilman, Oxford.
Alexandria: Cooper Smith, Jacob Cunningham.
Donoho: Hayes Farrell.
Jacksonville: Jackson Bonner, Jackson Askew.
Ohatchee: Ethan Jones.
Oxford: Reid Maniscalco, Rocco Maniscalco.
Piedmont: Cole Austin, Kale Austin.
Pleasant Valley: Noah Johnson.
White Plains: Dalton Luker.
By Joe Medley
A famous NFL Films narration about the golden-era of the Oakland Raiders flashes their Jolly Rogers helmet logo and begins, ominously, with John Facenda’s signature line.
“The Autumn Wind is a pirate, blustering in from sea,” he said.
The spring wind was a Yellow Jacket during Tuesday’s Calhoun County baseball final, blowing in from right field, so strongly that it blew netting off of the right field fence. Dirt lifted and levitated across Choccolocco Park’s signature field.
Top seeded Oxford was the wind, and gusts of offense blew James Tapley to a most-valuable-player performance and the Yellow Jackets beat an incoming storm and No. 2 Alexandria, 12-2.
Tapley finished 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, including the game-ending single to plate Hudson Gilman in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Oxford (8-5) pounded out 12 hits and took advantage of six Alexandria errors.
“Just a really interesting day, just with the wind,” Oxford coach Travis Janssen said. “Any time that creeps into your head, you start thinking about defense and strategy on who should play in the outfield and things like.
“We haven’t played in many games with this kind of wind. They’re a very young bunch, obviously. They’re well coached. They’re scrappy, and their youth showed with their defensive mistakes, but proud of how our guys competed.”
Alexandria lost 15 seniors to graduation from the team that played Oxford to an 11-inning thriller in the county final and went on to win a Class 5A state title last year.
“This game was going to take us playing really clean and one of our better games,” Alexandria coach Zac Welch said. “I think we came in here and played a little tight, and it got away from us.
“We’ve got to catch it and throw it at a higher rate than that. We didn’t play good enough to win against a team like that.”
Alexandria (7-3) got off to a promising start with Jacob Cunningham’s RBI a single and another run on a ball to lead 2-0 after the top of the first inning.
It was all Oxford from there.
Gilman’s sacrifice fly scored a run in the bottom of the first, and Oxford added three runs in the second. Canaan Whitman’s grounder tied the game, and RBI singles from plates from Zakaree Newton and Rocco Maniscalco RBI single put Oxford up 4-2.
The Yellow Jackets blew the game open with four runs in the fourth. The rally featured Reid Maniscalco’s RBI single. Tapley’s hard grounder plus an error got two runs across, and Marcus Lawler reached on an error to make it 8-2.
Oxford’s four-run fifth saw Bryson Bradford reach on a run-scoring error, Rocco Maniscalco’s RBI triple, Gilman’s RBI single and Tapley’s game-ending single.
Tapley capped a strong three-game performance in the tournament, including a 2-for-3 performance in a 5-0 victory over Jacksonville in the semifinals.
“Tapley hit close to .800 for the tournament,” Janssen said. “He’s a guy who’s really kind of come on the last six games. Yesterday, when nobody was hitting in our lineup, he had some two-out RBIs, and I think he had a couple of more today.
“Just happy that he gets to have some success.”
Tapley was a backup third baseman a “third pitcher” last season, he said. He called being MVP of the county tournament this year “awesome.”
“I didn’t think I’d he here,” he said. “Hard works pays off.”
Oxford also got a 3-for-4 performance from Rocco Maniscalco, who finished with two runs and two RBIs. Gilman went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.
Colton Parten pitched and Reid Maniscalco each pitched a perfect two innings of relief, with Reid Maniscalco getting the win. They combined with starter Gavin Griner to allow Alexandria three hits, all in the first inning.
“We played good hitting and fielding, and our pitchers threw strikes and filled it up,” Tapley said. “We completed at the plate, and that’s all we need.”
Photo gallery by Brad Campbell/sport-shutter.com
